April 27th – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
Gold Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large precious metals speculators once again lowered their bullish net positions in the Gold 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 Gold futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 37,395 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday April 23rd. This was a weekly decrease of -18,878 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 56,273 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) falling by -6,522 contracts to a weekly total of 176,691 contracts while the gross bearish position (shorts) gained by 12,356 contracts for the week to a total of 139,296 contracts.
The speculative net position has decreased for two straight weeks (by a total of -67,969 contracts over that period) and for three out of the past four weeks. The cool off in speculator sentiment has pushed the current standing to the lowest level since November 27th when positions totaled just 1,871 net contracts.
Free Reports:
Gold Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -57,396 contracts on the week. This was a weekly advance of 21,034 contracts from the total net of -78,430 contracts reported the previous week.
Gold Futures:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the Gold Futures (Front Month) closed at approximately $1273.20 which was a shortfall of $-4.00 from the previous close of $1277.20, 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