Gold Non-Commercial Positions:
Large speculators and traders cut back on their bullish net positions in the gold futures markets last week following six straight weeks of gains, 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 Comex gold futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 189,634 contracts in the data reported through May 2nd. This was a weekly decrease of -11,043 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 200,677 net contracts.
Gold speculators had pushed their net bullish positions higher for six weeks and to over +200,000 contracts for the first time since November before last week’s decline. Net bullish positions continue to remain over the +150,000 contract level for a fifth consecutive week.
Gold 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 -203,986 contracts last week. This is a weekly gain of 10,594 contracts from the total net of -214,580 contracts reported the previous week.
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the GLD ETF, which tracks the price of gold, closed at approximately $119.65 which was a dip of $-0.60 from the previous close of $120.25, according to ETF 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
