Chinese Manufacturing
Chinese manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in 19 months in December, according to the final reading of a Purchasing Managers’ Index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics today. The 51.5 figure compares with the 50.9 preliminary reading published Dec. 14 and 50.5 in November. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.
OPEC crude oil production declined to a nine-month low in December as Saudi Arabian output dropped to the least in more than a year, a Bloomberg survey showed. Output in the 12-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries slipped 110,000 barrels to an average 31.434 million barrels a day this month from a revised 31.544 million in November, according to the survey of oil companies, producers and analysts.
Bullish Bets
Net-long positions in WTI held by money managers, including hedge funds, commodity pools and commodity-trading advisers, increased by 13,783 futures and options combined, or 11 percent, to 134,834 in the week ended Dec. 24, according to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly report on Dec. 28.
In London, funds and other money managers raised bullish bets on Brent by the most in a month, according to data from ICE Futures Europe.
Electronic trading volume on the Nymex was 112,905 contracts as of 12:52 p.m. Volume totaled 262,511 contracts on Dec. 28, 46 percent below the three-month average. Open interest was 1.47 million, the lowest level since Aug. 13.