Gold Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large speculators once again cut back on their net positions in the gold futures markets this week for a fourth consecutive 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 93,799 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday July 3rd. This was a weekly decrease of -37,873 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 131,672 net contracts.
The sharp drop in speculative gold bets brings the decline over the past four weeks to a total of -110,666 net contracts. Gold net positions have also now fallen below the +100,000 contract threshold for the first time since January 3rd of this year.
Gold Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, categorized by the CFTC as hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -107,226 contracts on the week. This was a weekly gain of 42,637 contracts from the total net of -149,863 contracts reported the previous week.
GLD (NYSE:GLD) ETF
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the GLD ETF, which tracks the price of gold, closed at approximately $116.09 which was a decrease of $-2.72 from the previous close of $118.81, according to unofficial market data.