Managed futures held steady in August with a small gain of 0.11%, according to the Barclay CTA Index. Year-to-date, the index is up 7.17%.

“Inflation fears moderated in August as commodity prices corrected and the global economy showed signs of slowing,” said Sol Waksman, founder and president of BarclayHedge. “Bond prices rose and traders holding long positions in North American and Australian markets were able to profit nicely.”

Six of Barclay’s eight managed futures indices were in positive territory in August. The Discretionary Traders Index rose 0.25%, Diversified Traders were up 0.25%, and Currency Traders gained 0.2%.

Agricultural Traders had the weakest performance in August, losing 0.52%. “Agricultural traders were caught flat-footed as prices for corn and soybeans, which had been in a sustained downtrend since the beginning of July, rallied at mid-month," Waksman explained.

The Barclay BTOP50 Index, which monitors performance of the largest traders, lost 1.52% in August, but remains up 6.59% for the year. Since the beginning of September, the BTOP50 has gained 1.35%.

Through August, Barclay’s Diversified Traders Index leads all managed futures strategies with a gain of 12.42%.