CFTC: Crude long exposure at one year low, silver at a 9 year low

Hedge funds increased their bets on rising commodity prices for a third week in a row according to the latest data from the CFTC covering the week ending June 26. The aggregate number of long futures and options contracts held increased by 6 percent to 1,196,000 contracts while the nominal exposure fell by USD 2.7 billion to USD 77.8 billion, primarily due to reductions in the big nominal value contracts like gold and crude.

As the table below shows, the buying was once again centered around the grain and oilseeds sectors while natural gas stood out among the energy contracts. The impact of the strong rally across commodities last Friday following the EU Summit will only be known when data for the week ending July 3 becomes available July 6.

Other highlights:

- WTI crude net long exposure fell to the lowest since June 2011 just ahead of the biggest rally in three years last Friday;

- Natural gas net long rose by 40 percent in response to the 10 percent price rally during the reporting week;

- Silver net long position fell to the lowest level in nine years as speculators grow increasingly worried that the key 26 dollar support level would be broken; 

- High Grade Copper net short position hovering near a three year high as the economic slowdown has raised concerns about the near-term demand outlook;

- The bullish exposure to 15 US farm goods rose by 14 percent to 655,000 contracts primarily driven bythe three main crops of wheat, corn and soybeans amid the ongoing drought in the US;

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