June 4 (Bloomberg) -- Commodities, up 10 percent this year, are set to extend gains after breaking through a key chart level, according to technical analysis by Phil Roberts at Barclays Capital. Raw materials measured by the Reuters/Jefferies CRB index passed the 200-day moving average June 1, signaling an end to the downtrend that resulted in last year’s record 36 percent slump, Roberts said today by phone from London. The gauge comprises 19 commodities from gasoline to cotton. The index gained almost 14 percent in May, the biggest monthly advance since 1974, and is little changed in June at 253.05. Hedge funds and other speculators’ net long positions in 20 U.S. commodities, as monitored by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, rose to the highest level since July in the week ended May 26. “The downtrend is over,” Roberts said. “It could come down to 245 as a correction and still be going higher.” The next resistance level, a cluster of sell signals based on patterns in price charts, is 278, according to Roberts.

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