Copper Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large speculators reduced their net positions in the copper futures markets this week following two weeks of gains, 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 copper futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 12,779 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday June 20th. This was a weekly decline of -6,019 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 18,798 net contracts.
Copper speculative positions had risen the previous two weeks and for four out of the previous five weeks before this week’s decline. Speculator bullish net positions have continued to stay above the +10,000 level for the past three weeks.
Copper 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 -14,123 contracts on the week. This was a weekly uptick of 6,474 contracts from the total net of -20,597 contracts reported the previous week.
JJC ETF:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the JJC iPath Bloomber Copper (NYSE:JJC) ETN, which tracks the price of copper, closed at approximately $29.06 which was a fall of $-0.43 from the previous close of $29.49, according to unofficial market data.