According to the CFTC Commitments of Traders report for the week ended October 16, NET LENGTH for crude oil, heating oil and gasoline futures all dropped. This happened in line with the ongoing correction oil prices. Speculative long positions of crude oil futures declined -18 694 contracts, while shorts rose 16 128 contracts, resulting in a fall in NET LENGTH, by -34 822 contracts, to 493 229 contracts. For refined oil products, Net LENGTH for heating oil futures plunged -4 392 contracts to 43 385, while that for gasoline was down -9 173 contracts to 99 792. During the reporting week, correction in oil prices continued, with the front month WTI crude oil contract sinking -4.06%. The corresponding Brent contract plunged -4.22%. Net SHORT for natural gas slipped -18 contracts, to 4 534 contracts for the week. The Nymex natural gas contract pulled back after weeks of rally. US EIA reported that weekly natural gas inventory rose above 3 trillion cubic feet for first time since December 2017.
On the precious metal complex, gold futures reverted to NEW LENGTH while silver futures stayed in NET SHORT. Speculative long positions for the former jumped +9 454 contracts, while shorts sank -46 388, resulting in a NET LENGTH 17 667 contracts. The benchmark Comex contract jumped more than +3% during the week in concern, as the pullback in US Treasury yields drove safe-haven demand to gold. Festive season in India also offered modest help. For the latter, speculative long positions added +68 contracts while shorts plunged -7 355, trimming NET SHORT, by -7 423 contracts, to 14 827 contracts. For PGMs, NET LENGTH of Nymex platinum futures rose +4 854 contracts to 13 080 while that for palladium gained +165 contracts to 11 526.
