The price of a barrel of crude oil has crept up again since the start of July, but the impact of the second quarter sell-off is still being felt: a barrel of Brent crude current trades at $105, down from a 2012 peak of $125 a barrel in late March.

The fall in prices which saw Brent reach a 18-month low of $90.62 at the end of June also furthered the fall in other commodities, making for a miserable six months for a lot of resources funds.

With bullion selling off from a February high of $1,780 to trade at under $1,600 by the end of June, gold funds have also struggled this year.

As macro concerns continue to dominate, further monetary stimulus will likely help many lagging funds reverse their 2012 losses, though Federal Reserve chairman Ben

Bernanke seemingly reluctant to launch a fresh round of quantitative easing in an election year.

That leaves the question of whether gold can regain its safe haven status remaining finely balanced.

Investors in cyclicals, on the other hand, will be hoping for a dampening down of the eurozone crisis and more positive noises from China and the global economy.

Below are the 20 worst-performing funds of 2012 so far.

Data to 30 June. Source: Morningstar