Hedge Funds Interested in U.S. Crude Prices Rise
U.S. crude prices rise has sparked interests in hedge funds and other speculators, a sign of Wall Street confidence that the oil selloff that began 10 months ago may be nearing its end.
Data
from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday
showed the net long position in U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
held by money managers rose by 40,994 contracts to 276,051 in the week
ended April 21.
Reuters
charts of CFTC data show that is the highest level in nine months for
net longs, or positive wagers, on WTI held by such money managers, who
include hedge fund operators and speculators.
"This
data is consistent with the price rally we've been seeing in oil," said
John Kilduff, partner at New York-based energy hedge fund Again
Capital. "Oil is back in favor and lots of folks are anxious to get in
to what they see as a bottom to the market."
After
worries about a global glut drove oil markets down 50 percent from last
June, crude prices seem to have found their footing in recent weeks.
WTI's
front-month contract surged from a six-year low of $42.03 a barrel in
March to a 2015 high of $58.41 this week. It gained 27 percent over the
past six weeks, rising about 20 percent in April alone.
Source: Reuters
