Gold Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large precious metals speculators strongly decreased 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 56,273 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday, April 16th. This was a weekly decline of -49,091 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 105,364 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) falling by -16,294 contracts to a weekly total of 183,213 contracts which combined with the gross bearish position (shorts) rising by 32,797 contracts for the week to a total of 126,940 contracts.
The net speculative position had risen for three out of the past four weeks before this week’s sharp decline. The current standing is now at the lowest level of the past nineteen weeks as the net position fell by almost half this week (-46.6 percent). The gold position has remained in a positive or bullish position for twenty-two straight weeks since a dip into bearish territory in November.
Gold Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders' position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -78,430 contracts on the week. This was a weekly boost of 54,379 contracts from the total net of -132,809 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 $1272.60 which was a loss of $-30.90 from the previous close of $1303.50, according to unofficial market data.