Gold coins and bars at California Numismatic Investments in Inglewood, Calif. Gold rose about 3 percent on the month for its best showing since
February. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, file)

Reuters | Commodities in May had their steepest monthly decline in 18 months, with
a key sector index down more than 8 percent as the European crisis
roiled energy, metals and agricultural markets.

Crude oil fell 14 percent on the month, copper 7 percent and sugar 6
percent. Markets in May were focused on the euro zone debt crisis, which began with worries over Greece’s finances, and entered a new phase on
Friday with a credit ratings downgrade for Spain.

Gold rose about 3 percent on the month, for its best showing since
February. Risk-averse investors piled into the shiny metal, viewing it as a
safe haven during times of financial and political trouble.

The 19-commodity Reuters-Jefferies CRB index finished down 8.3 percent for May — its biggest monthly decline since November 2008.

“The fundamental problems that are going on have not gotten away or changed at all this week,” said Sterling Smith, analyst for Country Hedging Inc in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“We had just simply moved into a holiday mode, and this served as a reminder to people that there is still trouble out there,” Smith said as U.S. markets prepared for a longer weekend due to Monday’s Memorial Day holiday.

Edward Meir, analyst for broker MF Global in New York, echoed that view.

“We have seen how fickle sentiment has been over the last few weeks, and so we would rather watch the action from the sidelines for at least another few days,” Meir said.