Goldman Sachs reviewing commodities business

Goldman has for decades boasted the leading commodity franchise among Wall Street banks

Goldman Sachs Group is reviewing its commodities business after a slump in the first half of the year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

While the bank flagged the poor results for the first quarter — without giving specific numbers — the weakness has continued and the unit’s start to the year has been the worst in more than a decade, said one of the people, who asked for anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The commodities division was one of the topics of discussion at a board meeting held in London last month, the people said.

Goldman Sachs has stuck