Copper Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large precious metals speculators strongly cut back on their bullish net positions 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 34,045 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday June 26th. This was a weekly lowering of -22,266 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 56,311 net contracts.
Speculative positions declined for a second straight week by more than -14,000 contracts and landed at the lowest bullish level since May 8th.
Copper Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -40,114 contracts on the week. This was a weekly boost of 21,871 contracts from the total net of -61,985 contracts reported the previous week.
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the Copper Futures (Front Month) closed at approximately $301.55 which was a loss of $-3.15 from the previous close of $304.70, 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).