Speculators close out short bets on Oil in final week of 2015

FXStreet (Mumbai) - As reflected by the CFTC data, hedge funds’ bearish bets on the black gold shrank 8.5% in the week ended Dec. 29 to a six-week low. However, that failed to revive optimism in oil markets as speculators also reduced long positions, with the net long positions hovering near five-year lows.

Speculators’ long position shrank by 825 contracts of futures and options to 258,356, CFTC data showed. Short positions or bets that prices will fall, dropped by 14,699 to 157,559. Their net-long position rose to 100,797.