Gold Non-Commercial Positions:
Large speculators sharply reduced their net positions in the gold futures markets last 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 Comex gold futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 150,006 contracts in the data reported through May 9th. This was a weekly decline of -39,628 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 189,634 net contracts.
Speculative gold positions have declined two weeks in a row following a streak of six weekly gains that brought the net bullish position level to its highest level since November at over +200,000 contracts. The current level of net positions (150,006 contracts) is the lowest standing since the end of March.
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 -164,422 contracts last week. This is a weekly rise of 39,564 contracts from the total net of -203,986 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 $116.05 which was a drop of $-3.60 from the previous close of $119.65, 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
