COT: Slowing crude oil demand; Gold longs cut again COT: Slowing crude oil demand; Gold longs cut again COT: Slowing crude oil demand; Gold longs cut again

COT: Slowing crude oil demand; Gold longs cut again

Ole Hansen

Head of Commodity Strategy

Summary:  The Commitments of Traders report covering positions held and changes made by money managers in the week to June 9. Crude oil continued to be bought albeit at a much reduced pace while fuel products were sold on rising overhang of stocks. Gold and silver longs dropped further as the sector struggle to find a defense against strong appetite for risk elsewhere


Saxo Bank publishes two weekly Commitment of Traders reports (COT) covering leveraged fund positions in commodities, bonds and stock index futures. For IMM currency futures and the VIX, we use the broader measure called non-commercial.

The below summary highlights futures positions and changes made by hedge funds across 24 major commodity futures up until last Tuesday, June 9. Appetite for risk remained high that week, not least following the better-than-expected US job report on June 5. The S&P 500 rallied 4.2%, the dollar index lost 1.4% while bond yields jumped. The Bloomberg Commodity Index climbed 1.5% with gains seen across all sectors with the exception of precious metals. 

A mixed week in commodities which despite broad price gains did not yield much in terms of major position changes. Crude oil continued to be bought albeit at a much reduced pace, fuel products were sold on rising overhang of stocks while natural gas held steady. Precious metals remained out of favor with the gold and silver longs dropping further while enthusiasm for copper attracted strong buying. Grains, led by corn, continued to be sold while the sugar position flipped back to long. Thereby becoming vulnerable to profit taking after the rally’s main engine, crude oil, began looking exhausted.

Energy: Buying of crude oil slowed despite another week of strong gains for both WTI and Brent crude oil. WTI saw the smallest amount of buying in this cycle with bullish bets close to a two-year high. Elevated levels of fuel products in the U.S. drove a reduction in the gasoline (RBOB) net-long to a three-year low and a rise in the distillate (ULSD) short to a three-month high.

Metals: Gold selling extended into a third week with the net long falling by 9k lots to 127k lots, a one-year low and down 55% since the February peak. Copper meanwhile and as expected attracted additional buying following the technical break above $2.50/lb, a key level of support-turned-resistance since 2017. The near five-fold jump took the net-long to 14k lots, a 15-month high.

Agriculture: Ahead of Thursday’s global supply and demand outlook report from the US Department  of Agriculture, the corn short had extended to 297k lots, a 13-month high and biggest seasonal short in at least 20 years. This despite a continued steady recovery in the price. The wheat short jumped by 88% ahead of the WASDE report which pinned global stocks next year at a record high. The soybeans long meanwhile more than doubled on increased Chinese buying.

The soft sector was mixed with the oil-related rally in sugar helped flip the position back to a net long while the Arabica coffee short more than doubled in response the deteriorating technical outlook.

Soft commodities
What is the Commitments of Traders report?

The Commitments of Traders (COT) report is issued by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) every Friday at 15:30 EST with data from the week ending the previous Tuesday. The report breaks down the open interest across major futures markets from bonds, stock index, currencies and commodities. The ICE Futures Europe Exchange issues a similar report, also on Fridays, covering Brent crude oil and gas oil.

In commodities, the open interest is broken into the following categories: Producer/Merchant/Processor/User; Swap Dealers; Managed Money and other.

In financials the categories are Dealer/Intermediary; Asset Manager/Institutional; Managed Money and other.

Our focus is primarily on the behaviour of Managed Money traders such as commodity trading advisors (CTA), commodity pool operators (CPO), and unregistered funds.

They are likely to have tight stops and no underlying exposure that is being hedged. This makes them most reactive to changes in fundamental or technical price developments. It provides views about major trends but also helps to decipher when a reversal is looming.
Disclaimer

The Saxo Group entities each provide execution-only service and access to Analysis permitting a person to view and/or use content available on or via the website is not intended to and does not change or expand on this. Such access and use are at all times subject to (i) The Terms of Use; (ii) Full Disclaimer; (iii) The Risk Warning; (iv) the Rules of Engagement and (v) Notices applying to Saxo News & Research and/or its content in addition (where relevant) to the terms governing the use of hyperlinks on the website of a member of the Saxo Group by which access to Saxo News & Research is gained. Such content is therefore provided as no more than information. In particular no advice is intended to be provided or to be relied on as provided nor endorsed by any Saxo Group entity; nor is it to be construed as solicitation or an incentive provided to subscribe for or sell or purchase any financial instrument. All trading or investments you make must be pursuant to your own unprompted and informed self-directed decision. As such no Saxo Group entity will have or be liable for any losses that you may sustain as a result of any investment decision made in reliance on information which is available on Saxo News & Research or as a result of the use of the Saxo News & Research. Orders given and trades effected are deemed intended to be given or effected for the account of the customer with the Saxo Group entity operating in the jurisdiction in which the customer resides and/or with whom the customer opened and maintains his/her trading account. Saxo News & Research does not contain (and should not be construed as containing) financial, investment, tax or trading advice or advice of any sort offered, recommended or endorsed by Saxo Group and should not be construed as a record of our trading prices, or as an offer, incentive or solicitation for the subscription, sale or purchase in any financial instrument. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, would be considered as a marketing communication under relevant laws.

Please read our disclaimers:
- Notification on Non-Independent Investment Research (https://www.home.saxo/legal/niird/notification)
- Full disclaimer (https://www.home.saxo/en-hk/legal/disclaimer/saxo-disclaimer)

None of the information contained here constitutes an offer to purchase or sell a financial instrument, or to make any investments. Saxo does not take into account your personal investment objectives or financial situation and makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the information nor for any loss arising from any investment made in reliance of this presentation. Any opinions made are subject to change and may be personal to the author. These may not necessarily reflect the opinion of Saxo or its affiliates.

Saxo Capital Markets HK Limited
19th Floor
Shanghai Commercial Bank Tower
12 Queen’s Road Central
Hong Kong

Contact Saxo

Select region

Hong Kong S.A.R
Hong Kong S.A.R

Saxo Capital Markets HK Limited (“Saxo”) is a company authorised and regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong. Saxo holds a Type 1 Regulated Activity (Dealing in Securities); Type 2 Regulated Activity (Dealing in Futures Contract); Type 3 Regulated Activity (Leveraged Foreign Exchange Trading); Type 4 Regulated Activity (Advising on Securities) and Type 9 Regulated Activity (Asset Management) licenses (CE No. AVD061). Registered address: 19th Floor, Shanghai Commercial Bank Tower, 12 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong.

Trading in financial instruments carries various risks, and is not suitable for all investors. Please seek expert advice, and always ensure that you fully understand these risks before trading. Trading in leveraged products may result in your losses exceeding your initial deposits. Saxo does not provide financial advice, any information available on this website is ‘general’ in nature and for informational purposes only. Saxo does not take into account an individual’s needs, objectives or financial situation. Please click here to view the relevant risk disclosure statements.

The Saxo trading platform has received numerous awards and recognition. For details of these awards and information on awards visit www.home.saxo/en-hk/about-us/awards.

The information or the products and services referred to on this site may be accessed worldwide, however is only intended for distribution to and use by recipients located in countries where such use does not constitute a violation of applicable legislation or regulations. Products and services offered on this website are not directed at, or intended for distribution to or use by, any person or entity residing in the United States and Japan. Please click here to view our full disclaimer.

Apple, iPad and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the US and other countries. AppStore is a service mark of Apple Inc. Android is a trademark of Google Inc.