Copper Non-Commercial Positions:
Large speculators and traders reduced their net positions in the copper futures markets last week for the first time in three weeks, 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 copper futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 51,559 contracts in the data reported through February 7th. This was a weekly shortfall of -5,717 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 57,276 net contracts.
Copper speculative positions remain above the +50,000 level for a third straight week and have continued to be on the net bullish side for fifteen consecutive weeks after turning net bullish or long on November 1st.
Copper Commercial Positions:
Free Reports:
The commercial traders position, categorized by the CFTC as hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -54,652 contracts last week. This is a weekly increase of 3,127 contracts from the total net of -57,779 contracts reported the previous week.
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the JJC iPath Bloomber Copper ETN, which tracks the price of copper, closed at approximately $30.38 which was a fall of $-1.09 from the previous close of $31.47, according to financial market data.
*COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the previous 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
