Hedge funds cut bullish crude bets by the most since June as the US and Iran struck rare de-escalatory notes, positioning them to profit from the selloff after the Democratic sweep of Congress. Money managers decreased their combined net-long positions on the West Texas Intermediate and Brent benchmarks by 78,492 lots to 272,075 lots in the week through Nov. 3, according to data from ICE Futures Europe and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the biggest drop since this summer, around when the US and Iran agreed to an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Crude fell this week after a series of reports signaled that both Tehran and Washington are open to diplomacy. Iran’s supreme leader approved the government’s pursuit of negotiations, state-run IRNA reported, while US President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he wanted to give talks with Iran a chance. But the early-week decline came too late to ease soaring energy prices ahead of Tuesday’s consequential midterm elections, widely viewed as a referendum on the Iran war and cost of living.
Futures tumbled further after a decisive Democratic victory as investors bet the result would hasten efforts to end the war to bring down fuel costs at home.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing