Funds focus on oil refining margins: Kemp - Reuters

Funds focus on oil refining margins: Kemp - Reuters:

Hedge funds continued to rotate their positions from crude to fuels, especially gasoline, in light trading during the summer vacation period in North America, Europe and the Middle East.

Hedge funds and other money managers sold the equivalent of 10 million barrels in the six most important petroleum futures and options contracts in the week to Aug. 25.

Those sales reversed purchases of 12 million barrels the week before, but the overall position has not changed significantly since mid-July.

Within the global total, however, fund managers have continued to sell crude and buy fuels, a trend evident last week as well. (tmsnrt.rs/31KgV0K)

Portfolio managers sold NYMEX and ICE WTI (-15 million barrels), U.S. diesel (-3 million) and European gasoil (-5 million) while buying Brent (+4 million) and U.S. gasoline (+9 million).