Copper Non-Commercial Positions:
Large speculators sharply decreased their net positions in the copper futures markets last week as net positions fell to the lowest level since October, 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 8,081 contracts in the data reported through May 9th. This was a weekly reduction of -10,457 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 18,538 net contracts.
Copper speculators have been lightening up on their bullish bets for some time now with bullish positions falling for five out of the last six weeks and for twelve out of the last fourteen weeks. Net positions are now down to the lowest level since October 25th when positions totaled -13,754 contracts.
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 -8,300 contracts last week. This is a weekly gain of 11,182 contracts from the total net of -19,482 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 $28.22 which was a drop of $-1.80 from the previous close of $30.02, 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
