Trader trimmed bets on crude oil futures as the outlook has become more uncertain amidst rising coronavirus cases and Fed’s tapering in the near future. According to the CFTC Commitments of Traders report for the week ended August 17. NET LENGTH for crude oil futures added +3 910 contracts to 404 323 for the week. Speculative long position declined -17 200 contracts, while shorts decreased -21 110 contracts. Net length should decline in the coming week due to the sharp fall of crude oil prices (the front-month WTI crude contract on Friday settled at the lowest since mid-April). For refined oil products, NET LENGTH for heating oil dropped -1 336 contracts to 32 579, while that for gasoline fell -4 091 contracts to 35 747. NET SHORT of natural gas futures rose +12 145 contracts to 163 065 during the week.
Precious metals gained some grounds on risk aversion. Speculative long positions in both gold and silver futures increased, while shorts fell, last week. Gold futures’ NET LENGTH soared +23 136 contracts to 191 542 while silver futures’ NET LENGTH dropped -3 254 contracts to 21 220. For PGMs, NET LENGTH of Nymex platinum futures gained +2 539 contracts to 8 358 while that for palladium dropped -357 contracts to 1 151.
CFTC Commitments of Traders – Risk Aversion Trumped Oil, Lifted Precious Metals
