Gold Price Surge: Large Traders Return to Gold

According to the latest Commitments of Traders report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the number of open contracts (Open Interest) saw an increase for the first time in four weeks. As of August 13, Open Interest rose by 5.3 percent, from 480,650 to 505,900 futures contracts. The sentiment among large futures traders (Non-Commercials) significantly improved, with a notable increase in their long positions by 30,700 futures contracts, compared to a smaller rise in their short positions by 2,100 contracts. This resulted in a 12 percent increase in their net long positions (indicating optimistic market expectations) from 238,750 to 267,300 futures contracts. Meanwhile, small traders (Non-Reportables) exhibited growing skepticism, as their net long positions decreased significantly by 16.8 percent, from 30,300 to 25,200 contracts. Despite this shift, the gold price continued its upward trajectory.

On Monday morning, gold prices opened slightly higher. By 8:30 AM (CEST), the most actively traded gold futures for December increased by $5.10, reaching $2,542.90 per ounce.

Crude Oil: A Negative Start to the Week

Negative economic data from China, the world’s largest oil importer, is currently weighing on the oil markets. Slowing GDP growth, declining real estate prices, and rising unemployment rates are dampening the outlook for Chinese oil demand. Both OPEC and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have revised their forecasts for global demand growth downward in the past week. Meanwhile, supply risks from the ongoing tensions between Iran and Israel are being largely ignored at this time.

On Monday morning, oil prices opened lower. By around 8:30 AM (CEST), the nearest WTI futures dropped by $0.55 to $76.10, while Brent futures fell by $0.44 to $79.24.