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Oil Fund Inflows Surge on US-Iran Tensions
WisdomTree’s Crude Product Jumps to $915 Million After Heavy Investor Positioning
An oil exchange-traded fund posted its biggest daily inflow since the pandemic as investors bet that prices will continue to rally as tensions between the U.S. and Iran simmer.
Nearly $200 million was reported on Feb. 3 to have been added to WisdomTree’s WTI Crude Oil exchange-traded product in recent days, lifting the fund’s total assets by just over a quarter to $915 million.
U.S. futures surged nearly 7% last week, the biggest gain since October amid threats by President Donald Trump to use military strikes in Iran, one of the world’s biggest oil producers. Prices reversed sharply when markets opened Feb. 2 as tensions appeared to ease and the broader commodities complex weakened.
Days later, several tense military interactions between Washington and Tehran kept the door open to further escalation, with the inflows likely reflecting positioning for a potential bounce-back.
The fund tracks crude oil using fully funded, collateralized swaps rather than holding futures directly, muting its direct footprint in the futures market.
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