(Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds fled bearish bets against Brent crude prices at the fastest pace in nearly eight years as war risks ratcheted up.
Money managers slashed short-only bets against Brent by 47,977 lots to 91,222, marking the biggest cut since December 2016, according to ICE Futures Europe data.
Israel has yet to decide how to retaliate against Iran for a missile attack last week, according to an official familiar with the matter. Although US President Joe Biden has counseled against an attack on energy facilities in Iran, the possibility is leaving investors on edge and wary of wagering against futures prices.
Overall, speculators increased their bullish Brent and WTI oil bets by 117,227 combined net-long positions to 263,135, weekly ICE and CFTC futures and options data on four contracts showed. That’s the most bullish in 10 weeks.
Meanwhile, money managers also increased their bullish Nymex gasoline bets by 13,702 net-long positions to 39,464 lots, the most bullish in 20 weeks, CFTC data on futures and options show.
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