Copper Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large precious metals speculators slightly trimmed their bearish net positions lower in the Copper 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 Copper futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of -47,255 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday, October 15th. This was a weekly change of 838 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of -48,093 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) lowering by -2,501 contracts (to a weekly total of 67,383 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) fell by -3,339 contracts for the week (to a total of 114,638 contracts).
Copper speculators slightly pared their bearish bets this week following three straight weeks of gaining bearish positions. The copper speculative position has continued to be highly bearish and recently reached a record high bearish level on September 3rd at a total of -58,841 contracts. Overall, copper bets have now been in bearish territory for twenty-five straight weeks.
Copper Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of 45,778 contracts on the week. This was a weekly drop of -2,203 contracts from the total net of 47,981 contracts reported the previous week.
Copper Futures:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the Copper Futures (Front Month) closed at approximately $261.4 which was an increase of $4.55 from the previous close of $256.85, according to unofficial market data.