Initial higher prints were not sustained as the market continued its struggles with further losses, reaching 18.84 by mid-morning. The selling was coming from specs however unlike yesterday we were running into some better buying in the form of consumer scales, limiting the losses. This enabled values to settle down into a narrow range and for several hours the market barely moved from the low 18.90’s as the spread took focus with the second day of the index roll bringing large volumes to the Jul/Oct’22 spread. Here there were limited movements as the spread sat between -0.25 and -0.20, with similar situations down the board as the narrow flat price ranges kept things in check. The narrow range was broken during the afternoon with some aggressive buying, some traders seemingly taking the view that the consolidation was providing a base from which they could buy ahead of the consumer support and attempt to trade the range, action which in turn drew in some algo buying. The rally reached back to 19.17 before stalling, and with the end users not interested in following the move a final hour slide ensued that ultimately left Jul’22 settling a single point higher at 18.98 with the spread at -0.25 points. Overall, a day of consolidation changes nothing though the failure to maintain the afternoon rally may lead to a little more near-term support testing to the lower end of the ongoing range.
