Column: Hedge funds resume oil sales | Reuters

Column: Hedge funds resume oil sales | Reuters:

Hedge funds and other money managers resumed selling oil last week as concerns about the health of the global economy re-emerged and the previous week’s short-covering rally lost momentum. 

Hedge funds sold the equivalent of 29 million barrels in the six most important petroleum futures and options contracts, largely reversing purchases of 40 million barrels the week before.

Portfolio managers have sold oil in five of the last six weeks, reducing their total position by 227 million barrels since the middle of August (tmsnrt.rs/3d3KNJA).

In the latest week, funds sold NYMEX and ICE WTI (-24 million barrels), Brent (-7 million) and European gasoil (-3 million) but were small buyers of U.S. diesel (+3 million) and U.S. gasoline (+2 million).