Bloomberg – Hedge funds and other money managers raised bullish bets on Brent crude to their highest level in six weeks, according to data from ICE Futures Europe.
Speculative bets that prices will rise, in futures and options combined, outnumbered short positions by 130,219 lots in the week ended May 14, the London-based exchange said today in its weekly Commitment of Traders report. The gain of 6,184 contracts, or 5 percent, is a third straight weekly increase and brings net-long positions to the highest since April 2.
Bearish positions by producers, merchants, processors and users of Brent outnumbered bullish positions by 348,081, down by 3,083, or 0.9 percent, from their highest since January 2011, the starting point for the data.
Brent crude dropped 1.7 percent to $102.60 a barrel in the week to May 14 on the ICE exchange, and traded for $104.21 a barrel as of 12:20 p.m. London time.
