Copper Bets
Investors trimmed the net position in copper to a short holding of 12,974 contracts, from 15,673 a week earlier. Prices are down 14 percent this year on signs of slowing economic growth in China, the world’s top metals consumer. Supplies will exceed demand by 107,000 tons this year, and the surplus will expand to 387,000 tons in 2014, Barclays Plc said July 18.
A measure of net-long positions across 11 agricultural products tumbled 34 percent to 106,968 futures and options, the lowest since April 23. The S&P’s Agriculture Index of eight commodities fell to the lowest since August 2010.
Corn holdings expanded to a net-short position of 83,361 contracts from 37,262 a week earlier. That’s the most bearish since the data begins in 2006. The soybean net-long wagers dropped 12 percent to 109,642, the lowest since May 21. The U.S. government forecasts American farmers will harvest record crops.
“Supplies are high in a lot of commodities, and there’s an economic slowdown that’s manifesting itself and accelerating worldwide,” said Jeff Sica, who helps oversee more than $1 billion of assets as the president of Sica Wealth Management in Morristown, New Jersey. “These are major issues that are going to affect commodities prices.”