Funds Hold Pat On Gold, Trim Net Short In Silver
(Kitco News)- Largespeculators’ net positioning did not change much in gold futures but the netbearish position in silver was scaled back according to the latest datagathered by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Duringthe week-long period through March 6 that was covered by the report, Comex April gold rose $16.60 to $1,335.20an ounce. May silver rose 35 cents to $16.784.
Netlong or short positioning in the CFTC data reflect the difference between thetotal number of bullish (long) and bearish (short) contracts. Traders monitorthe data to gauge the general mood of speculators, although excessively high orlow numbers are viewed by many as signs of overbought or oversold markets thatmay be ripe for price corrections.
Thecommission issues two reports each Friday -- a so-called “legacy” report and a“disaggregated” report, started in 2009 and meant to offer more detail.
“ETF [exchange-traded-fund] investors soldhardly any gold last week, however, and speculative financial investors alsoleft their positions unchanged...,” said a research note from Commerzbank.
Thedisaggregated report shows that money managers’ net-long position in gold stoodat 150,706 lots, compared to 150,019 the prior week. Traders were exiting fromboth sides of the market. However, the data suggest that the short covering(decline of 5,670 short positions) outpaced the long liquidation (decline of4,983 longs).
PhilFlynn, senior market analyst with at Price Futures Group, commented that thedata suggest there hasn’t been a massive flight to safety into gold despiterecent turmoil in equity markets.
“We’reseeing a little bit of a wait-and-see [attitude] on gold,” he said.
Meanwhile,in silver futures, money managers’ net-short position now stands at 11,078contracts, compared to a record 16,435 lots the previous week. The most notablefeature in the data was fresh buying, as reflected by an increase of 4,389gross longs. There was also some short covering, as total short positions fellby 968.
Thismetal may have been helped by reduced worries about a global trade war on signsthat the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will grant some kind ofexemptions to certain key nations on steel and aluminum tariffs, Flynn said.
“Becauseof that, there is more interest in silver because of the industrial side,” hesaid.
By Allen SykoraFor Kitco News
Follow @AllenSykora
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