Oil: Speculators trim oil positions – ING

FXStreet Insights Team FXStreet

Oil prices sold off heavily on Friday, with ICE Brent settling 2.68% lower on the day and WTI briefly trading below US$70/bbl this morning for the first time this year, ING’s commodity analysts Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey notes.

President Trump is calling on OPEC+ to increase supply

"Recent weakness in prices comes amid intensifying noise about where OPEC+ will take supply levels. The group is currently cutting supply by 2.2m b/d. It’s scheduled to bring this supply back onto the market gradually from April. However, there are suggestions that OPEC+ is considering a delay."

"Any delay would lead to a change in the oil balance, leaving the market relatively tighter than we expected. Any delay would also likely not go down well with President Trump, who’s calling on OPEC+ to increase supply."

"The latest positioning data suggests market sentiment turning negative, with speculators cutting positions in ICE Brent by 23,931 lots. This left them with a net long of 265,223 lots as of last Tuesday. Driving the move is a combination of longs being liquidating and fresh shorts entering the market. Trade and tariff concerns, along with a push for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, will weigh somewhat on the market."

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FXStreet Insights Team

FXStreet

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EUR/USD deflates to fresh lows, targets 1.1600

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GBP/USD breaks below 1.3400, challenges the 200-day SMA

GBP/USD remains under heavy fire and retreats for the fourth consecutive day on Friday. Indeed, Cable suffers the strong performance of the Greenback, intensified post-mixed NFP, and trades at shouting distance from its critical 200-day SMA near 1.3380.

Gold flirts with yearly tops around $4,500

Gold keeps its positive bias on Friday, adding to Thursday’s advance and challenging yearly highs in the $4,500 region per troy ounce. The risk-off sentiment favours the yellow metal despite the firmer tone in the Greenback and rising US Treasury yields.