Gold Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large precious metals speculators reduced their bullish net positions in the Gold futures markets this week following a strong run-up in recent weeks, 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 244,763 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday, July 9th. This was a weekly decline of -14,183 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 258,946 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) falling by -6,597 contracts (to a weekly total of 306,105 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) advanced by 7,586 contracts for the week (to a total of 61,342 contracts).
Large speculator bets had been surging for five straight weeks to the highest bullish level since September of 2016 before cooling off this week. The strong gains in gold bets started on June 4th and pushed on through July 2nd with a total gain of +172,258 contracts in just that 5-week time period.
The current standing remains very bullish and is above the +200,000 net contract level for a fourth straight week which is the longest streak above +200,000 since January of 2018.
Gold Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders' position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -278,416 contracts on the week. This was a weekly advance of 8,406 contracts from the total net of -286,822 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 $1400.50 which was a decrease of $-7.50 from the previous close of $1408.00, according to unofficial market data.