Gold Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large precious metals speculators raised their bullish net positions this week in the Gold futures markets after a couple of down 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 66,219 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday, April 30th. This was a weekly rise of 28,824 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 37,395 net contracts.
The week’s net position was primarily the result of the shorts (gross bearish position) pulling back on their bets by -28,240 contracts this week to a total of 111,056 contracts. The longs (gross bullish position), meanwhile, only increased their bullish bets by 584 contracts to a weekly total of 177,275 contracts.
The net speculative position had declined for two straight weeks and for three out of the past four weeks before this week’s rebound. The current standing for speculator sentiment is now at the highest level of the past three weeks and has remained in an overall bullish position for twenty-four straight weeks.
Gold Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders' position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -88,312 contracts on the week. This was a weekly drop of -30,916 contracts from the total net of -57,396 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 $1285.70 which was an uptick of $12.50 from the previous close of $1273.20, according to unofficial market data.