OIL
Oil for August delivery, the more-actively traded contract, was at $69.61 a barrel, down 41 cents, at 3:09 p.m. in Singapore.
“If we should stay below $70 for the August contract that should be a bearish sign,” said Astmax’s Emori. “The trading for today and tomorrow will be very important in setting the direction for the market.”
CFTC Data
Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators decreased their net-long position in New York crude-oil futures in the week ended June 16, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. Speculative long positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 26,430 contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Washington-based commission said in its Commitments of Traders report. Net-long positions fell by 21,453 contracts, or 45 percent, from a week earlier.
