“Hedge funds increased bullish commodity bets by the most in six months as accelerating growth from China to the U.S. boosted prices for a seventh week.
Speculators raised net-long positions across 18 U.S. futures and options by 11 percent to 758,048 contracts in the week ended Jan. 22, the biggest gain since July 3, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Bullish crude- oil bets reached a four-month high, while those for soybeans climbed by the most since March. Investors are the most bullish on cotton since February 2011.
More than $2.2 trillion was added to the value of global equities this month as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index posted the first eight-session rally since 2004. Manufacturing in China is expanding at the fastest rate in two years, and an index of U.S. leading indicators rose the most in three months in December, private reports showed Jan. 24. Germany’s economy, Europe’s largest, has started to show signs of recovery, the Bundesbank said Jan. 21.
“There has been definitive signs of reacceleration of global growth,” said Chad Morganlander, a Florham Park, New Jersey-based fund manager at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., which has about $130 billion of assets. “Investor sentiment will continue to shift to a more bullish stance towards commodities.”
January Returns
The S&P GSCI Spot Index of 24 commodities rose 2.4 percent since the start of January, heading for the biggest monthly gain since August. The MSCI All-Country World Index of equities climbed 4.4 percent, while the dollar was little changed against a basket of six trading partners. Treasuries lost 0.9 percent, a Bank of America Corp. index shows….”
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