Latest updates on crude oil, gold and copper can be found in our daily Market Quick Take here
Energy: Crude oil was mixed with surging fuel prices supporting a relative outperformance of the WTI contract, but overall a 12k lots increase in WTI was more than offset by a 14k lots reduction in Brent, on global demand concerns, thereby leaving the net down by 2k to 411k lots, and near a 17-month low. Fuel products surged higher amid tightness caused by Russian sanctions with gasoil in Europe and diesel in New York (ULSD) both surging higher by 30% and 27% respectively. These changes, however, did not attract any appetite for adding risk with both contracts seeing only small changes.
Metals: The combination of growth concerns, especially in China, and very aggressive rate hike statements from US FOMC members, combined with a stronger dollar, helped drive a dismal week for both industrial and precious metals. Speculators responded to the 2.8% drop in gold by cutting bullish bets by 20% to 99.4k lots with the bulk of the change being driven by long liquidation, not fresh short selling. A similar picture in silver which in response to a 7.4% loss saw its net long being cut by 36% to 26.5k lots.
Platinum saw 13.3k lots of selling flip the net positions back to a net short for the first time since September. HG Copper fared even worse with speculators wiping the slate clean with the net returning close to neutral for the first time since May 2020 when the price was trading close to half the current level.
Agriculture: The grains sector saw the net long being reduced from a ten-year high by 36k lots to 783k lots. Selling was led by corn and soybeans while wheat only witnessed a small reduction in an already relative small bullish bet. The exception was soybean oil which jumped 5.4% in response to a growing global supply crisis impacting edible oils such as sunflower and palm oil.
The softs sector saw the biggest week of net selling since November with the stronger dollar and a general deterioration in risk appetite triggering reductions across all four commodities led by sugar and cocoa.