Gold Futures Speculators cut net bullish positions for a 4th week: COT Report

By CountingPips.com | Weekly Large Trader COT Report: Gold

Gold speculative positions dropped again last week

GOLD Non-Commercial Positions:

Gold speculators and large futures traders cut back on their gold bullish positions sharply last week for a fourth straight week and pushed bullish speculative positions to the lowest level since December of 2013, 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 +28,279 contracts in the data reported through July 21st. This was a weekly change of -19,545 contracts from the previous week’s total of +47,824 net contracts that was registered on July 14th.

The drop in the weekly net speculator positions (-19,545 net contracts) was due to a small decline in the weekly bullish positions by 3,294 contracts which combined with a large increase in the weekly bearish positions by 16,251 contracts.

Gold speculative bets are now at the lowest level since December 24, 2013 when bullish positions +27,339 contracts.

Gold Commercial Positions:

In the commercial positions for gold on the week, the commercials (hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes) reduced their overall bearish positions for a fourth week to a net total position of -21,584 contracts through July 21st. This was a weekly change of +26,885 contracts from the total net position of -48,469 contracts on July 14th.

GLD ETF:

Over the weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday July 14th to Tuesday July 21st, the price of the SPDR Gold Trust ETF, which tracks the gold spot price, dropped from approximately $110.74 to $105.37, according to ETF data of the SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD).

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading 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

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