According to the CFTC Commitments of Traders report for the week ended April 16, NET LENGTH for crude oil futures dropped -1 404 contracts to 515 258 for the week. Speculative long positions fell -5 656 contracts while shorts dropped -4 252. Oil price rally might continue after Easter holiday as the US announced the end of Iranian sanction waiver. For refined oil products, NET LENGTH for gasoline jumped +8 297 contracts to 96 798, while NET SHORT for heating oil rose +1 991 contracts to 11 733 contracts for the week. NET SHORT for natural gas futures soared +15 027 contracts to 50 121 contracts for the week. Natural gas price plunged to the lowest level 3 years.
On the precious metal complex, NET LENGTH for gold futures slumped -49 091 contracts, to 56 273 last week. Speculative long positions plunged -16 294 contracts, while shorts soared +32 797, resulting in a decline in NET LENGTH. Rally in US Treasury yields dampened demand for gold. For silver futures, speculative long positions dropped -377 contracts while shorts rose +10 156. These resulted in a sharp decline in NET LENGTH, by -10 533 contracts, to 5 885 contracts. For PGMs, NET LENGTH of Nymex platinum futures fell -733 contracts to 31 111 while that for palladium dipped -667 contracts to 8 824. 
