Gold Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large speculators once again cut back on 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 131,672 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday June 27th. This was a weekly reduction of -19,003 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 150,675 net contracts.
Gold speculators have now cut net positions for three straight weeks and by a total of -72,793 contracts over that time. The decline has brought gold bullish positions to the lowest level since May 16th.
Gold Commercial Positions:
Meanwhile, 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 -149,863 contracts on the week. This was a weekly increase of 15,153 contracts from the total net of -165,016 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 $118.81 which was a gain of $0.63 from the previous close of $118.18, according to unofficial market data.