GLOBAL - Exchanges-traded funds providers ETF Securities and Lyxor have unveiled additions to their London-listed futures offerings, covering the commodities and Japanese markets.

ETF Securities said it is adding another 29 exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) to its investment range in four weeks time - raising its total range to 58 ETFs - in a bid to give investors access to both the normal upward, or 'contango,' commodities future curve and  the ‘backwardation' of the commodities futures curve - where the yield curve inverts, for example because the commodity for future delivery price is lower than the current spot price.

This latest range will be linked to the Dow Jones AIG Comodity 3-Month Forward indices, focused on metals and agricultural commodities, as investors are said to have demanded longer-dated futures.

Of the 19 individual forward ETCs to be launched on the London Stock Exchange, six focus on metals - aluminium, copper, gold, nickel, silver and zinc - while a further four look at energy commodities pricing - crude oil, gasoline, heating oil and natural gas - and eight are in agriculture as they include corn, cotton, lean hogs, live cattle, soybean oil, soybeans, sugar and wheat.

A further 10 forward index securities are also being launched, containing a basket of forward futures stocks related to DJ-AIG indices for:

All commodities Agriculture Energy Ex-energy Grains Industrial metals Livestock Petroleum Precious metals, and Soft commodities.

At the same time, Lyxor Asset Management has launched the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) to be listed in the Topix index and listed on the London Stock Exchange.

ETFs are stocks traded on a listed exchange, much like individual equities, but are usually packaged to track the performance of named indices.