{"id":563352,"date":"2021-06-28T04:00:47","date_gmt":"2021-06-28T04:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/06\/28\/a-record-breaking-year-for-ipos-plus-have-commodities-peaked\/"},"modified":"2021-06-28T04:00:47","modified_gmt":"2021-06-28T04:00:47","slug":"a-record-breaking-year-for-ipos-plus-have-commodities-peaked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/06\/28\/a-record-breaking-year-for-ipos-plus-have-commodities-peaked\/","title":{"rendered":"A record-breaking year for IPOs. Plus: Have commodities peaked?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> Another record-breaking year for IPOs:<\/strong> Almost USD 350 bn has been raised in IPOs in 1H2021, exceeding the previous record set in 2H2020 when investors poured USD 282 bn into new listings, Bloomberg<\/a>reports. Renewable energy companies, e-commerce companies joined tech firms to capitalize on the huge stimulus-fuelled demand for new listings, which has now eclipsed the dot-com mania of the late 1990s.<\/p>\n

But some fear the market is becoming oversaturated<\/strong>, and some high-profile stocks such as Deliveroo have on their trading debuts as investors are spoilt for choice. Investor appetite for SPACs also seems to be fading, with their share of the proceeds of the IPO market shrinking to 13% this quarter, down from almost 50% in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

Have commodities peaked?<\/strong> Commodity prices have finally begun to ease from their pandemic levels, calming fears of runaway inflation and calling the supercycle thesis<\/a> into question. Copper is down 10% from its record high in March, corn and soybean futures are down 13% and 19% respectively, while lumber has plunged 54%. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said the fall in lumber prices proves his theory correct: that rising inflation is linked to supply bottlenecks and that it will soon fall as post-lockdown economies normalize. \u201cA few months ago the consensus was that prices for commodities can\u2019t go anywhere but up,\u201d one analyst told the Wall Street Journal<\/a>. \u201cMore recently, though, we\u2019ve had a few reminders that prices don\u2019t go up in a straight line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Or is this the start of something bigger?<\/strong> Despite the decreases, lumber is still at twice its typical price at this time of year, while oil, natural gas and copper prices also remain relatively high. China\u2019s economic resurgence, a large infrastructure bill in the US, and American households flush with stimulus money are reasons to believe commodities have a way to go before they top out. \u201cI think we\u2019re in the early innings of this,\u201d said one trader active in commodity-linked ETFs. \u201cI don\u2019t believe it\u2019s as transitory as the Fed is saying.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the region:<\/strong><\/p>\n