Speculators increased net-short bets in copper to 10,473 contracts. Prices in New York reached a 44-month low March 12. Chinese factory production expanded 8.6 percent in 2014’s first two months, the weakest start to a year since 2009, government data showed last week. The country is the world’s biggest metals consumer. Futures traded at $2.9465 a pound on the Comex today.
Farm Bets
A measure of speculative positions across 11 agricultural products rose 15 percent to 984,138 contracts, the highest in three years, the CFTC data show. World food costs posted the biggest gain in 19 months in February on concern that cold weather and drought in the U.S. and hot, dry weather in Brazil will harm crops, according to the United Nations’ Food & Agriculture Organization.
“It’s a mixed bag for commodities,” said Jim Russell, who helps oversee $113 billion as a Cincinnati-based senior equity- strategist for U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “While gold and some commodities tied to Russia and Ukraine will remain supported, the economically sensitive commodities will continue to react negatively to the bumpy data out of China.”