The escalating U.S.-China trade war is deterring hedge funds and other money managers from opening new positions in the WTI and Brent benchmarks, with total bets dropping to their lowest since 2016 in the week to July 31, according to data by European and U.S. options and futures exchanges compiled by Bloomberg . The net long position—the difference between bullish and bearish bets—in WTI dropped by 1.4 percent to 386,764 futures and options in the week ended July 31, with longs down and shorts up. This was the lowest net long position in six weeks, according to data by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The net long position in Brent increased to 372,346 futures and options in the week to July 31, as short positions dropped, according to ICE Futures Europe data compiled by Bloomberg. Money managers and hedge funds are backing away from betting heavily on […]