WTI Crude Oil Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large speculators lifted their bullish net positions in the WTI Crude Oil futures markets this week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.
The non-commercial futures contracts of WTI Crude Oil futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 358,025 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday July 11th. This was a weekly gain of 16,978 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 341,047 net contracts.
WTI speculative positions have now increased for two straight weeks (after falling the previous three weeks in a row) and total net positions are back above the +350,000 contract threshold for the first time since June 13th.
WTI Crude Oil Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, categorized by the CFTC as hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -361,371 contracts on the week. This was a weekly fall of -23,225 contracts from the total net of -338,146 contracts reported the previous week.
USO (NYSE:USO):
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the USO Crude Oil ETF, which tracks the price of WTI crude oil, closed at approximately $9.27 which was a drop of $-0.35 from the previous close of $9.62, according to unofficial market data.