WTI crude oil price continued to recover last week as increase in US inventory decelerated. The market also anticipated that demand would gradually improve amidst signs of stabilization in the coronavirus pandemic. However, caution is still warranted as storage at Cushing, the delivery point of WTI crude oil, is approaching full capacity. According to the CFTC Commitments of Traders report for the week ended May 5, NET LENGTH for crude oil futures plunged -58 776 contracts to 530 612 for the week. Speculative long positions declined -14 866 contracts while shorts rose +43 910 contracts. For refined oil products, NET LENGTH for gasoline declined -14 601 contracts to 75 462, while heating oil‘s NET SHORT decreased -1 035 contracts to 460. NET SHORT for natural gas futures declined -12 167 contracts to 36 973 contracts for the week.
Gold futures’s NET LENGTH fell -12 725 contracts to 250 004. Speculative long positions declined -11 811 contracts while shorts added +914. Silver futures’ NET LENGTH fell -2 590 contracts to 22 915. For PGMs, NET LENGTH of Nymex platinum futures increased +912 contracts to 18 246 while that for palladium added +33 contracts to 665.
