Commodity markets continue to show exceptional divergence in 2026. Crude oil and European natural gas have recorded extraordinary gains, copper remains supported by structural demand, while gold, silver, and US natural gas are trading lower year-to-date.
Crude oil remains one of the strongest-performing major assets. WTI trades at $101.11 per barrel, up 76.1% year-to-date, while Brent stands at $115.04 and has gained 89.1%.
The Brent-WTI spread has widened to approximately $13.93 per barrel, reflecting tighter conditions in international markets. Both benchmarks remain below their 2026 peaks—$119.48 for WTI and $126.41 for Brent—but continue to trade far above their December 2025 lows.
The futures curves are also in steep backwardation. WTI declines from approximately $101 for December 2026 delivery toward $80.53 by December 2027, while Brent follows a similar pattern. The structure reflects a market pricing current supply tightness significantly above longer-term equilibrium levels.
Natural gas presents an even sharper regional divergence. Henry Hub trades at $2.713/MMBtu, down 25.4% year-to-date, reflecting the structural surplus in the US market.
European TTF gas, by contrast, trades at €96.11/MWh and has surged 241.3% year-to-date, the largest move among the instruments covered in the four market reports. Prices are also close to their 52-week high of €97.64/MWh, reflecting severe European supply stress and competition for LNG.
Gold trades at $4,011.78 per ounce and has declined 7.1% year-to-date. Elevated real yields remain a significant headwind, with the US 10-year Treasury yield around 5%.
The $4,000 level represents an important psychological threshold for gold. Despite the year-to-date decline, the metal remains at historically elevated absolute levels following its strong prior-year performance.
Silver has experienced a substantially larger correction. It trades at $53.94 per ounce and is down 24.7% year-to-date, compared with gold's 7.1% decline.
Silver's dual role as both a precious and industrial metal leaves it exposed to weaker manufacturing conditions in addition to the pressure created by higher yields. The gold-to-silver ratio has consequently widened to approximately 74.
Copper remains the constructive exception among metals. LME copper trades at $14,471.97 per tonne, up 16.2% year-to-date, while COMEX copper has gained 14.8%.
Both benchmarks remain only modestly below their August highs. Copper continues to benefit from expectations of structural demand growth from electric vehicles, renewable energy, and grid infrastructure, alongside constrained growth in mine supply.
