Speculative net long positions in Brent fell to 6-month low at beginning of August

Speculative financial investors appear to agree - they continued to withdraw from their investments in Brent in the week to 4 August. 

According to the ICE, speculative net long positions were reduced by almost 29,000 to 150,000 contracts. This was the third pronounced weekly decline in a row. Net long positions now find themselves at their lowest level in six months, meaning that speculation was partly responsible for the price fall in recent weeks. 

In contrast to Brent, speculative net long positions in WTI were increased by 9,500 contracts in the same reporting week. That said, there have often been similar cases of such divergence this summer, albeit the other way around - net long positions in Brent were increased until mid-July, for example, while they were reduced in WTI. In other words, the latest development is likely to be nothing more than a correction of this divergence, states Commerzbank.