Oil bulls that piled into bets on rising crude prices stand to get burned after the market plunged later in the week.

Money managers increased bullish positions in Brent to an eight-week high in the week ended Tuesday. Long-only bets in US crude jumped to the highest in five weeks.

The moves preceded a selloff that saw oil plunge 5% in two days. Investor sentiment turned negative on worries that hawkish central banks would cause economic growth to slow and dent oil consumption.