Friday, August 17, 2012

Hedge funds bet on oil spike as Israel attack fears grow




Hedge funds are quietly laying new bets on a potential spike in oil prices tied to the possibility of an Israeli attack on Iran, skewing the options market to a bullish bias for the first time in six months, Reuters tell us..

Signs that Israel is losing patience with efforts to curtail Iran's nuclear program, as well as the intensifying conflict in Syria, are giving funds new reason to bet on crude despite a lack of evidence that fundamentals are improving. Activity is muted so far by the summer lull, but could pick up in September.

The renewed premium has been most apparent in futures markets, with benchmark ICE Brent crude gaining 10 percent over the past two weeks. At the same time, hedge funds boosted their bullish bets in U.S. oil markets a week ago to the highest since early May, regulatory data shows….


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