LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Copper’s future in the energy transition may be bright but it’s the problematic here and now that is weighing on fund managers’ minds. Money manager positioning on the CME’s copper contract shifted back to a net long at the start of November for the first time since early May.
But the change in stance has been all about covering short positions into the recent price rally, which saw London Metal Exchange three-month copper power up to a five-month high of $8,618 per tonne on Friday.
Bulls remain conspicuous by their absence, waiting to see how Doctor Copper prices the confusing combination of Western recession and tentative recovery in China.
BEARS RETRACT THEIR CLAWS
Money managers reached peak negativity on copper’s prospects in July, when the cumulative CME short position stood at 65,962 contracts, the largest collective bear bet since COVID-19 first emerged in early 2020.
For the rest of this column: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/fund-managers-still-see-no-reason-be-bullish-copper-andy-home-2022-12-12/