Gold Speculators pushed their bullish bets higher this week

December 15th 2018 – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email

Gold Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:

Large precious metals speculators raised their bullish net positions higher in the Gold futures markets this week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.

The non-commercial futures contracts of Gold futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 60,499 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday December 11th. This was a weekly rise of 11,498 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 49,001 net contracts.

This week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position sliding by -3,419 contracts to a weekly total of 169,600 contracts compared to the gross bearish position which saw a decline by -14,917 contracts for the week to a total of 109,101 contracts.

The speculative net position rose for a second straight week and by a total of 58,628 contracts over that period. The current standing is now at the highest bullish position since since July 10th when the net position totaled 81,434 contracts.

Gold Commercial Positions:

The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -77,368 contracts on the week. This was a weekly drop of -19,119 contracts from the total net of -58,249 contracts reported the previous week.

Gold Futures:

Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the Gold Futures (Front Month) closed at approximately $1247.20 which was an increase of $0.60 from the previous close of $1246.60, according to unofficial market data.

*COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the most recent Tuesday (data is 3 days old) and shows a quick view of how large speculators or non-commercials (for-profit traders) as well as the commercial traders (hedgers & traders for business purposes) were positioned in the futures markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators). Find CFTC criteria here: (http://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/CommitmentsofTraders/ExplanatoryNotes/index.htm).

Article By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email