Traders Pump Record $500 Million Into One Oil ETF

(Bloomberg) — One oil exchange traded fund pulled in a giant amount of cash last week as some investors piled into the market during its worst rout in months.

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WisdomTree’s Brent Crude Oil ETP — ticker BRNT — attracted a weekly record of about $500 million, almost tripling the fund’s assets to more than $700 million.

The move coincided with benchmark Brent futures sliding 11% in their biggest weekly slump since early August. Worries that rising interest rates will quell demand and an oversupplied physical market have pressured prices lately.

Despite the price rout, some remain optimistic. The oil market has largely shrugged off China’s easing of Covid rules in recent days, and any increase in consumption from the world’s top crude importer could allay some fears of a demand slowdown next year. That’s against the backdrop of heightened supply risks as Russia continues its war in Ukraine.

The WisdomTree fund’s inflow is one of the largest for any oil-tracking ETP this year.

In another sign of dip buying, the market’s largest product, the $2.4 billion US Oil Fund — or USO — saw a daily inflow of $169 million last week. That was the most since August 2020.

–With assistance from Sam Potter.

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