Gold Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large precious metals speculators once again boosted 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 204,323 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday, June 18th. This was a weekly rise of 20,085 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 184,238 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) growing by 24,519 contracts (to a weekly total of 274,633 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) increased by 4,434 contracts for the week (to a total of 70,310 contracts).
The large speculator position has surged higher for a third straight week and by a total of 117,635 contracts over just that period. The gold speculative position was recently as low as +37,395 contracts on April 23rd before sentiment turned and has taken off. A record weekly rise on June 4th has helped push bullish bets sharply higher and the current speculator standing now sits at the best level since January 30th 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 -223,855 contracts on the week. This was a weekly drop of -21,828 contracts from the total net of -202,027 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 $1350.70 which was a rise of $19.50 from the previous close of $1331.20, according to unofficial market data.