Gold Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:

Large precious metals speculators increased 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 282,599 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday September 17th. This was a weekly rise of 12,874 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of 269,725 net contracts.

The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) going up by 7,397 contracts (to a weekly total of 341,511 contracts) while the gross bearish position (shorts) declined by -5,477 contracts for the week (to a total of 58,912 contracts).

Gold speculators boosted their bullish bets this week following a sharp selloff in positions last week (-30,822 contracts). Two weeks ago, bullish bets had risen to over +300,000 net contracts for the first time in approximately three years, dating back to September of 2016. This week’s gain doesn’t quite bring the position back to that level but keeps the net position above the +250,000 net contract threshold for a ninth consecutive week.

Gold Commercial Positions:

The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -318,399 contracts on the week. This was a weekly fall of -12,788 contracts from the total net of -305,611 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 $1513.40 which was a rise of $14.20 from the previous close of $1499.20, according to unofficial market data.

*COT Report: The COT data, released weekly to the public each Friday, is updated through the most recent Tuesday (data is 3 days old) and shows a quick view of how large speculators or non-commercials (for-profit traders) as well as the commercial traders (hedgers & traders for business purposes) were positioned in the futures markets.

The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators).

Find CFTC criteria here.