Macro: Sandcastle economics
Invest wisely in Q3 2024: Discover SaxoStrats' insights on navigating a stable yet fragile global economy.
Head of Commodity Strategy
Summary: Hedge funds and money managers continue to slash bullish commodity bets.
Funds sold HG copper for a fifth consecutive week with the net-short hitting a 15-week low of 35k lots. This came in response to recent price weakness driven by worries that trade tensions could weigh on the outlook for demand. Platinum’s recent strong run, both against the dollar but also against gold, also continues to run out of steam. Last week the net-long was cut 27% to 13k lots, a six-week low.
The grains sector was mixed last week with the soybeans net-short continuing to expand; corn selling slowed while CBOT wheat was bought for a second week. Wet weather planting delays across the US Midwest have triggered short-covering in both corn and wheat. The combination of the risk of lower acreage and lower production, combined with a major short position, has been a potent cocktail for corn, which last week ended up posting its best weekly performance since 2015.
Note: The USDA publishes its “Planting Progress” reports on Mondays at 20:00 GMT.