WTI Crude Oil Speculators Trimmed Bullish Bets
Zachary Storella | Apr 21, 2019 02:15AM ET
WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large energy speculators edged their bullish net positions slightly lower in the WTI Crude Oil futures markets this week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.
The non-commercial futures contracts of WTI Crude Oil futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 515,258 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday, April 16th. This was a weekly fall of -1,404 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 516,662 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) falling by -5,656 contracts to a weekly total of 616,110 contracts that more than offset the gross bearish position (shorts) which saw a decline by -4,252 contracts for the week to a total of 100,852 contracts.
The net speculative position had increased for eight straight weeks and by a total of +228,448 contracts in that period before this week’s small decline. The current standing remains above the +500,000 net contract level for a second straight week after having not been at those levels since October.
WTI Crude Oil Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders' position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -529,990 contracts on the week. This was a weekly gain of 5,492 contracts from the total net of -535,482 contracts reported the previous week.
WTI Crude Oil Futures:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the WTI Crude Oil Futures (Front Month) closed at approximately $64.05 which was an advance of $0.07 from the previous close of $63.98, according to unofficial market data.
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