(Bloomberg) — Hedge funds piled into bearish bets in US crude as prices plummeted toward the lowest in more than seven weeks.
Money managers’ net long position in West Texas Intermediate shrank by 6,957 lots to 172,689 lots in the week through April 30, the third straight week of declines, according to the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission. Hedge funds hiked short bets against crude by 9,705 lots to 78,141, the highest since January.
Crude sank to the lowest since mid-March this week as US stockpiles rose more than expected and cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas showed signs of progress. Meanwhile, sticky inflation in the US led the Federal Reserve to maintain elevated interest rates, and softness in the US economy has driven down demand for gasoline and diesel.
Hedge funds’ net long position in global benchmark Brent crude rose after a big drop last week.
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