Crude Interestingly, a set of weaker U.S. macroeconomic data has not had a significant impact on crude prices so far. Disappointing figures on ISM manufacturing and nonfarm payrolls undermined the U.S. dollar, which in turn bolstered the price of crude on Friday. Brent is still hovering at 115 USD per barrel (USD/bbl) level whereas WTI is trading around 100 USD/bbl. Nevertheless, the Friday’s CFTC Commitment of Traders (CoT) report showed further decrease in Money Managers’ net position, which was driven by both drop in a long position (2%) and increase in a short position (5%, see the chart), which might indicate change in sentiment ahead of the 159th OPEC meeting (Wednesday). Regarding the meeting, an increase in production quotas is generally anticipated. Nonetheless, the situation is not clear-cut. Dovish members of the cartel (including the top producer Saudi Arabia) seem to be unhappy with current prices, whereas a hawkish camp, which includes the second largest producer, Iran, sees no need to increase oil output (according to Iran’s OPEC governor Khatibi). Base Metals Weaker U.S. dollar supported base metals’ prices as well on Friday. Moreover, temporary workers’ protests at Chile’s El Teniente mine have became more violent and the mine is currently operating at about 40% of its capacity. Precious Metals The figure on nonfarm payrolls released on Friday disappointed markets on Friday and gold’s safe-haven status once again supported the price of the yellow metal. Rising interest of speculative community was illustrated by the CoT report, which unveiled that the net position of money managers rose by almost 6% last week, i.e. the largest weekly increase since the beginning of April 2011.

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