What does GSCI stand for?

The quarterly data comes during a period in which commodities, as indicated by the S&P Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (SPGSCI) surged 25.

Two commonly referenced commodity indexes are the Standard & Poor's Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (S&P GSCI) and Dow Jones-American International Group Commodity Index (DJ-AIGCI), which are based on a broad range of physical commodities, including energy products, agricultural products, and metals.

The Goldman Sachs Commodity Index does the same thing every month, but on the 6th, 7th and 8th business days.

Around mid-August, just before gasoline prices started falling, the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index decided to switch the percentage representation of gasoline in that mix.

Mitsuhiro Onozato, TOCOM director, said the bourse has decided to go ahead with the index as it has received calls for ''an objective index,'' designed by an exchange, although the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index and other private-sector indexes have already been widely used by investors.

The investment bank has lowered the returns forecast from its energy-reliant Goldman Sachs Commodity Index.

It will put 3pc of its investments into the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index.

In 1998 a series of commodity indexes provided gloomy reading for producers, but a gift for importers: * The Commodity Research Bureau futures price index hit 21-year lows in late August; * In August, cotton futures reached their lowest levels in 10 years * The Economist all-items commodity price index in September plummeted by 30% since mid-1997 - its lowest level in real terms for over 25 years; * Goldman Sachs Commodity Index fell in mid-August to its lowest level since 1977, though the index is more heavily weighted in favour of energy prices.