CFTC Commitments of Traders – Traders Increased Bets on Lower Precious Metal Prices

According to the CFTC Commitments of Traders report for the week ended March 23, NET LENGTH for crude oil futures declined -2 387 contracts to 523 055 for the week. Speculative long position gained +2 507 contracts, while shorts rose +4 894 contracts. For refined oil products, NET LENGTH for heating oil slipped -225 contracts to 8 911, while that for gasoline dropped -622 contracts to 48 073. NET SHORT  of natural gas futures fell -1 396 contracts to 36 626 during the week.

Gold futures’ NET LENGTH plunged -6 129 contracts to 174 067 while silver futures’ NET LENGTH decreased -2 530 contracts to 31 079. For PGMs, NET LENGTH of Nymex platinum futures was down -1 217 contracts to 30 226 while that for palladium gained +802 contracts to 2 364.