CFTC position report: Investors increase net long position in gold, cut net long position in crude oil

According to data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), COMEX gold futures speculative net long positions increased by 8,815 contracts to 143,656 contracts in the week ended July 15.

As of the week of July 15, the speculative net long position in WTI crude oil futures decreased by 47,748 contracts to 37,998 contracts, and the net long position in natural gas futures in NYMEX and ICE markets increased by 29,217 contracts to 265,390 contracts.

For the week ending July 15, COMEX silver futures speculative net long positions increased by 322 contracts to 43,927 contracts, and COMEX copper futures speculative net short positions increased by 988 contracts to 37,275 contracts.

As of the week of July 15, the CFTC had a net long position in the yen of 103,582 lots, a net long position in the euro of 128,221 lots; a net long position in the pound of 29,191 lots; and a net short position in the Swiss franc of -22,637 lots.

In the week ending July 15, equity fund managers cut their net long position in the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures contract by 2,265 contracts to 862,416 contracts, while equity fund speculators cut their net short position by 8,741 contracts to 329,471 contracts.

As of the week of July 15, speculators increased the net short position of CBOT US 2-year Treasury futures by 33,727 contracts to 129,860 contracts, the net short position of US 5-year Treasury futures decreased by 11,259 contracts to 2505,528 contracts, the net short position of US 10-year Treasury futures decreased by 68202 contracts to 772,377 contracts, and the net short position of ultra-long Treasury futures increased by 5794 contracts to 228,618 contracts.

As of the week of July 15, the net short position of CBOT wheat speculators increased by 3994 lots to 78,399 lots, the net short position of CBOT corn speculators decreased by 19991 lots to 264,201 lots, and the net short position of CBOT soybean speculators increased by 26091 lots to 89,226 lots.

As of the week ending July 15, net short positions of ICE cotton speculators decreased by 6,260 lots to 50,628 lots, net long positions of ICE cocoa speculators decreased by 169 lots to 2,808 lots, net short positions of ICE sugar speculators decreased by 9,575 lots to 110,247 lots, and net long positions of ICE coffee speculators increased by 699 lots to 16,407 lots.