Column: Hedge funds wait for signs of cyclical recovery in oil - Kemp - Reuters

Column: Hedge funds wait for signs of cyclical recovery in oil - Kemp - Reuters:

Hedge fund managers show little directional conviction on petroleum prices after crude futures doubled between late April and early June, suggesting most now see upside and downside risks as finely balanced.

For the second week running, fund managers made no significant changes in their positioning in any of the six most import futures and options contracts, according to records published by regulators and exchanges.

Funds purchased the equivalent of just 10 million barrels in the seven days ending on June 9, after buying 6 million a week earlier, compared with average purchases of 40 million per week over the previous eight weeks.

Funds were small buyers of Brent (+12 million barrels) but there were no significant changes in NYMEX and ICE WTI (unchanged), U.S. gasoline (-3 million), U.S. diesel (-1 million) or European gasoil (+1 million).