After pushing the futures market lower into the weekend, thebears were at it again early yesterday as they ushered the Maycontract to its lowest level since last Wednesday. But sellingquickly dissipated, leaving the market exposed to unchecked buying.The May contract finished up 4.5 cents at $2.169 after notching a$2.18 high.

Floor traders said early selling was dominated by commercialtraders who already hold substantial short positions and werelooking to keep a lid on the market. Tom Saal of Miami-basedPioneer Futures agreed and added that locals were also seen ascontributing to the downward price momentum. That, however wasabout all the funds would allow, and after being somewhat quietlast week they were seen as active buyers between 11 a.m. and 12p.m. yesterday, Saal continued. “Once the market moved aboveunchanged on the day, both commercials and funds began to covertheir morning short positions.” May rallied from there, continuinghigher into the close.

“Funds were relentless buyers today,” added Sandy Trot of NewYork-based Trot Trading Corp. “This was a very good session andeven a better settlement for the bulls. [The market] is theirs totake higher [Tuesday]. However, he warned that if the market is notable to sustain the momentum he thinks profit taking could shuffleprices lower in the near-term.

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