Hedge funds and institutional investors added to long positions by the
most in almost a year last week. The leading commodity indicators rose
for the fourth straight week as momentum continued to build. The net
long futures position rose by 13% to 1.26 million lots or nearly USD 105
billion in nominal value.
Gold and soybeans saw the biggest increases as sovereign debt worries in Europe and the U.S. supported the yellow metal while a severe heat wave in the U.S. kept grains, especially the soybean complex, well supported.
Energy: The sector had a quiet week but with a firm undertone. This attracted additional investors with the futures position in Crude oil rising by 7k to 192,000 lots. Natural gas shorts were reduced as higher heat wave related consumption combined with the upcoming hurricane season led to positions being scaled back.
Grains: Above normal temperatures and dry weather continues to carry the risk of damaging crops in the U.S. Midwest. With upside momentum still in place investors added to existing long positions, especially in the soybean complex and corn while in wheat investors switched from lower (CBOT) to higher (Kansas) quality.
Metals: Speculative longs in gold rose by 11% last week while holdings in exchange traded products rose to a record 2,122 metric tons. The new record high above USD 1,600 and expectations for additional price gains in the months ahead saw investors adding to existing long positions. Despite Silver outperformance the remembrance of the April sell-off continues to leave professional investors on the sideline with speculative longs only rising by 1.2%.
Softs: investors reacted to the sell-off in coffee and reduced long positions by almost a quarter while cotton began to find buyers after the sell-off combined with reduced U.S. production as large cotton fields in Texas are scorching in the heat.
Gold and soybeans saw the biggest increases as sovereign debt worries in Europe and the U.S. supported the yellow metal while a severe heat wave in the U.S. kept grains, especially the soybean complex, well supported.
Energy: The sector had a quiet week but with a firm undertone. This attracted additional investors with the futures position in Crude oil rising by 7k to 192,000 lots. Natural gas shorts were reduced as higher heat wave related consumption combined with the upcoming hurricane season led to positions being scaled back.
Grains: Above normal temperatures and dry weather continues to carry the risk of damaging crops in the U.S. Midwest. With upside momentum still in place investors added to existing long positions, especially in the soybean complex and corn while in wheat investors switched from lower (CBOT) to higher (Kansas) quality.
Metals: Speculative longs in gold rose by 11% last week while holdings in exchange traded products rose to a record 2,122 metric tons. The new record high above USD 1,600 and expectations for additional price gains in the months ahead saw investors adding to existing long positions. Despite Silver outperformance the remembrance of the April sell-off continues to leave professional investors on the sideline with speculative longs only rising by 1.2%.
Softs: investors reacted to the sell-off in coffee and reduced long positions by almost a quarter while cotton began to find buyers after the sell-off combined with reduced U.S. production as large cotton fields in Texas are scorching in the heat.
Background information: The Commitments of Traders is a report
issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission every Friday with
data from the previous Tuesday. It comprises the holdings of
participants in various U.S. futures markets split into "commercial" and
"non commercial" holdings. The non commercial or speculative holding
are typically institutional investors such as hedge funds and CTAs.
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