Bloomberg – Hedge funds cut their bets on higher oil-futures prices to a 10-month low as U.S. economic reports signaled fuel demand is diminishing.
Speculative net-long positions, or wagers that prices will increase, in crude futures declined 30 percent to 17,457 contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the week ended June 8, the lowest level since July, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Commitments of Traders Report released on June 11. Bets on gains have dropped 87 percent since reaching a record 135,669 in January.