Gold Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large precious metals speculators increased their bullish net positions in the Gold futures markets this week after a down week last 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 245,501 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday, July 16th. This was a weekly rise of 738 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 244,763 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) advancing by 3,430 contracts (to a weekly total of 309,535 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) rose by 2,692 contracts for the week (to a total of 64,034 contracts).
Large speculators edged their bullish bets higher after a pull back (-14,183 contracts) last week. The trend for bullish bets has been sharply higher since May 28th when the net positions had fallen to a total of +86,688 contracts. Since then, bullish bets have risen by a total of 158,813 contracts (a weekly average gain above +20,000 contracts) as positions have increased for six out of the past seven weeks to a total above +240,000 net contracts.
Gold Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders' position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -277,408 contracts on the week. This was a weekly gain of 1,008 contracts from the total net of -278,416 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 $1411.20 which was an advance of $10.70 from the previous close of $1400.50, according to unofficial market data.