For many commodities traders, the past quarter is one that they wish they had never lived through.

An upbeat start to the quarter quickly unraveled as concerns about debt problems in the European Union took a turn for the worse in late April. Fears of a double-dip recession trumped rays of hope for an economic recovery, driving down prices for industrial raw materials.

Hit with the double whammy, some commodities in May went through the deepest pullback since the onset of the financialcrisis. 'After a long period of relative clam, volatility finally returned to the commodity markets with a vengeance' in the second quarter, wrote Kevin Norrish, director of commodities research at Barclays Capital.

In May, crude oil slid as much as 21% over a span of 14 days as the EU debt crisis deepened. Palladium, a metal buoyed by signs of a recovering auto industry, lost up to 28%. Copper, an indicator of economic growth, plunged 24%. The broad-based Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index retreated as much as 11%.

The decline of commodities was aggravated by investors' flight to the dollar as a safer asset. Along with the greenback's rise against other currencies, commodities -- often quoted in the dollar -- fell in price.

Amid all the gloom, gold continued to set records in all major currencies, as rattled investors sought to preserve their wealth against the volatile markets and declining currencies. In dollar terms, the precious metal hit a record of $1,257.20 per troy ounce on June 18 at the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the quarter, gold gained 11.9% to settle at $1,245.50 an ounce.

Toward the end of the quarter, the free-fall of the euro was arrested and investors turned their focus back to the economy. 'The fact is that growth, although patchy, is still intact,' said Edward Meir, a seniorcommodity analyst at MF Global. Some of May's losses were recouped in June, helping the Dow Jones-UBS index finish the quarter with a drop of 4.9%.

Indeed, Mr. Norrish noted that there has been 'a remarkable level of disconnectedness' between the pessimistic sentiment afflicting financial markets and the steady flow of stronger-than-expected economic and commodity-specific data.

In the U.S., for example, initial claims for jobless benefits fell throughout the quarter on a four-week average basis, indicating a stabilizing job market and heralding greater demand for materials. Meanwhile, China remained an avid buyer of crude oil, copper and corn, a driving force for commodities prices.

The disconnect between the direction of commodities prices and economic indicators, Mr. Norrish said, reflects the 'fragile and easily shaken' faith in recovery after an unprecedentedfinancialcrisis.

One of the biggest commodity stories of the quarter -- if not the one with the most immediate impact -- was the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP PLC's fatal accident on a deep-water drilling rig in late April, and the company's numerous failed attempts to stop the oil from gushing, 'contributed to the feeling of helplessness,' Mr. Meir said.

Still, oil prices on the front end were largely unmoved, as the leak -- estimated to be up to 100,000 barrels a day -- isn't a significantamountrelative to the world's consumption of about 86 million barrels a day.

However, the impact on oil markets is likely to be 'significant in several years' horizon,' said Antoine Halff, head of commodityresearch at Newedge USA. Oil companies may reconsider future deep-water projects as costs are likely to increase because of higher compliance and environmental expenses, he said.

The uncertainties surrounding oil-production growth in the future were supportive of prices at the back end of the curve, widening the spreads between spot prices and deferred contracts. After a wild ride, crude oil closed the quarter at $75.63 a barrel, down 9.7%. However, oil futures for delivery in December 2018 -- the furthest contract available at Nymex -- declined only 1.5% to $90.08 a barrel.

Carolyn Cui

• european [juərə´pi:ən] a.欧洲的 n.欧洲人 (初中英语单词)
• industrial [in´dʌstriəl] a.工业的，产业的 (初中英语单词)
• financial [fi´nænʃəl] a.金融的，财政的 (初中英语单词)
• relative [´relətiv] a.有关系的 n.亲属 (初中英语单词)
• director [di´rektə] n.指导者；....长；导演 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• copper [´kɔpə] n.铜 a.铜制的 (初中英语单词)
• flight [flait] n.逃走；飞行；班机 (初中英语单词)
• preserve [pri´zə:v] v.保藏 n.保藏物 (初中英语单词)
• wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• remarkable [ri´mɑ:kəbl] a.值得注意的；显著的 (初中英语单词)
• sentiment [´sentimənt] n.情绪；多愁善感 (初中英语单词)
• meanwhile [´mi:n´wail] n.&ad.其间；同时 (初中英语单词)
• mexico [´meksikəu] n.墨西哥 (初中英语单词)
• amount [ə´maunt] n.总数；数量 v.合计 (初中英语单词)
• barrel [´bærəl] n.(琵琶)桶；圆筒 (初中英语单词)
• available [ə´veiləbəl] a.可用的；有效的 (初中英语单词)
• recovery [ri´kʌvəri] n.重获；获得；恢复 (高中英语单词)
• crisis [´kraisis] n.转折点；危机 (高中英语单词)
• commodity [kə´mɔditi] n.日用品；商品 (高中英语单词)
• senior [´si:niə] a.年长的 n.前辈 (高中英语单词)
• initial [i´niʃəl] a.最初的 n.首字母 (高中英语单词)
• significant [sig´nifikənt] a.重要的；意义重大的 (高中英语单词)
• consumption [kən´sʌmpʃən] n.消耗；结核病 (高中英语单词)
• surrounding [sə´raundiŋ] n.周围的事物 (高中英语单词)
• delivery [di´livəri] n.送交；分娩；交货 (高中英语单词)
• unprecedented [ʌn´presidentid] a.空前的 (英语六级单词)
• impact [´impækt] n.影响，作用；冲击 (英语六级单词)
• unmoved [ʌn´mu:vd] a.无动于衷的；坚定的 (英语六级单词)