Commodities
Bullish Bets on Crude Futures Continue to Shrink
Money managers have reduced their bullish bets on Brent and WTI crude futures for the second week in a row, despite little progress towards reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest reporting week to August 4 saw portfolio managers trim their net long position in NYMEX WTI by 7,257 lots to 101,050 lots, according to data from the exchanges. This was a reduction of 11% or 20,361 lots in ICE Brent crude oil futures.
Oil prices have dropped over the past two weeks amid hopes that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen and Iran and Oman could reach a deal on joint management of some lanes.
ING's commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey noted that 'speculative sentiment turned more cautious last week.'