By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
S&P500 Mini Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large stock market speculators slightly raised their bullish net positions in the S&P500 Mini 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 S&P500 Mini futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 212,309 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday April 17th. This was a weekly lift of 2,693 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 209,616 net contracts.
The speculative position had fallen for two straight weeks prior to this week’s small gain. The overall bullish position remains in a strong bullish standing above the +200,000 contract level for a fourth straight week.
Small Traders add to Bullish Bets:
Free Reports:
The small trader category joins the speculators in having an overall bullish position with a total of +237,032 net contracts. This week’s bullish position rose for a fifth straight week and is at the highest level since March 16th 2016 when the net small trader position was a total of +258,456 net contracts.
S&P500 Mini Commercial Positions:
Meanwhile, the commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -449,341 contracts on the week. This was a weekly decline of -9,067 contracts from the total net of -440,274 contracts reported the previous week.
SPY ETF:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the SPY ETF, which tracks the price of S&P500 Index, closed at approximately $270.19 which was a boost of $5.04 from the previous close of $265.15, 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