Hedge Funds Bet Wrong Before Biggest Slump Since October

Hedge funds raised bets on higher commodity prices for the first time in six weeks, just before the biggest three-day slump since October as U.S. jobs data fell short of expectations and European manufacturing contracted.

Money managers increased net-long positions across 18 U.S. futures and options by 6.9 percent to 895,240 contracts in the week ended May 1, the biggest gain since Feb. 28, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Bullish copper wagers surged sevenfold before prices fell for three days, and soybean bets reached the highest since at least June 2006 as the oilseed capped the biggest weekly loss since mid-January.