Energy prices remained under pressure as US- China trade re-escalates. According to the CFTC Commitments of Traders report for the week ended August 6, NET LENGTH for crude oil futures declined -11 650 contracts to 375 641 for the week. Speculative long positions added +686 contracts and shorts jumped +12 336 contracts. For refined oil products, NET LENGTH for gasoline declined -4 747 contracts to 70 485, while NET LENGTH for heating oil dropped -3 231 contracts to 1 874 for the week. NET SHORT for natural gas futures added +296 contracts to 200 081 contracts for the week.
NET LENGTH for gold futures jumped +38 157 contracts to 292 545. Speculative long positions surged +38 344 contracts, while shorts added +187. Silver price retreated on profit-taking. This also resulted in decline in NET LENGTH for silver futures, which plunged -14 465 contracts to 49 832. Speculative long positions fell -5 248 contracts while shorts rose 9 217. For PGMs, NET LENGTH of Nymex platinum futures decreased -3 824 contracts to 21 944 while that for palladium fell -3 273 contracts to 9 573.
