Hedge funds and other money managers cut bullish bets on Brent crude by the most in four months, according to data from ICE Futures Europe. Speculative bets that prices will rise, in futures and options combined, outnumbered short positions by 119,451 lots in the week ended Oct. 29, the London-based exchange said today in its weekly Commitments of Traders report. That’s a reduction of 30,710 contracts, or 21 percent, from the previous week, and the biggest drop since the week ended June 25. Bearish positions by producers, merchants, processors and users of Brent outnumbered bullish wagers by 321,470, a 3.2 percent decrease in their net-short position from Oct. 22. ICE publishes, usually each Monday, aggregate numbers for long and short positions for speculators and institutional investors, as well as commercial companies that buy or sell futures to protect against price moves. Analysts and investors follow changes in speculators’ positions because such transactions can reflect an expectation of a change in prices. Brent futures declined by 0.9 percent to $109.01 a barrel in the week to Oct. 29 and traded at $105.63 as of 12:36 p.m. London time today on the ICE exchange. Swaps dealers increased net-long positions in Brent by 12 percent to 229,043. Money managers’ net-long bets on European gasoil fell by 14 percent to 66,204 lots. To contact the reporter on this story: Morgane Lapeyre in London at mlapeyre@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net

Source