Following a January
rally, the global commodities complex underwent declines in February before partially recovering in March; for the first quarter as a
whole, the benchmark Thomson Reuters CoreCommodity CRB Index (CRB) gained 0.8 % on a price - only basis.1 Among the 19 component commodities tracked by the CRB, advancers had a slight edge over decliners, buoyed by growth in global economies and weakness in the trade - weighted US dollar, which retreated 2.1 %, according to the Federal Reserve's (Fed's) US Dollar Index.1 Aside from robust gains for a host of agricultural products, oil and
gold were also among the commodity winners.