Gold Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large precious metals speculators strongly lifted their bullish net positions in the Gold 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 Gold futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 124,536 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday, May 14th. This was a weekly gain of 49,125 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 75,411 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) rising by 40,560 contracts (to a weekly total of 226,361 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) decreased by -8,565 contracts for the week (to a total of 101,825 contracts).
The Gold speculator position jumped this week and rose for a third consecutive week – gaining by +87,141 in that period. This week’s gain was the most since October 16th when the net position rose by 55,842 contracts.
The Gold spec standing is now at the highest level since February 26th.
Gold Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders' position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -137,183 contracts on the week. This was a weekly decrease of -40,824 contracts from the total net of -96,359 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 $1296.30 which was a gain of $10.70 from the previous close of $1285.60, according to unofficial market data.