15th August 2011
New figures have revealed that bullish speculators cut their positions in US commodity markets by a total of $21 billion (£12.9 billion) in the week to August 9th.
Published by Reuters, the data was based on the weekly Commitment of Traders report from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and represents the biggest one-week sell-off in at least 18 months.
Hedge funds and proprietary traders reduced their overall net long holdings in 21 commodities by around $15 billion, excluding roughly $6 billion of profit-taking in US gold futures and options.
According to the Financial Times, the current volatility of commodities trading has conjured memories of the global financial crisis of 2008.
Last week, the newspaper noted the price of crude oil had fallen below the psychologically important level of $100 a barrel in European trading for the first time in six months.
However, experts have also stressed that the overall supply and demand picture for commodities appears more robust than it did in 2008.
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