July 20th – By CountingPips.com – Receive our weekly COT Reports by Email
Gold Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large precious metals speculators increased their bullish net positions in the Gold futures markets this week after a down week 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 Gold futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 245,501 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday July 16th. This was a weekly rise of 738 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 244,763 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) advancing by 3,430 contracts (to a weekly total of 309,535 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) rose by 2,692 contracts for the week (to a total of 64,034 contracts).
Large speculators edged their bullish bets higher after a pull back (-14,183 contracts) last week. The trend for bullish bets has been sharply higher since May 28th when the net positions had fallen to a total of +86,688 contracts. Since then, bullish bets have risen by a total of 158,813 contracts (a weekly average gain above +20,000 contracts) as positions have increased for six out of the past seven weeks to a total above +240,000 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 -277,408 contracts on the week. This was a weekly gain of 1,008 contracts from the total net of -278,416 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 $1411.20 which was an advance of $10.70 from the previous close of $1400.50, 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