Gold Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large precious metals speculators cut back on their bullish net positions in the Gold futures markets again 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 107,068 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday December 12th. This was a weekly reduction of -66,261 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 173,329 net contracts.
Speculative bets have fallen sharply now for two weeks in a row (by a total of -117,349 bets) and the decline has brought the overall bullish level down to the lowest standing since July 25th when net positions totaled +90,831 contracts.
Gold Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -119,463 contracts on the week. This was a weekly increase of 70,427 contracts from the total net of -189,890 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 $118.15 which was a drop of $-2.17 from the previous close of $120.32, according to unofficial market data.