(Kitco News) – Speculative interest in gold is at its highest level since before the pandemic, while silver’s price spike triggered a wave of shorting, according to the latest trade data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The CFTC's disaggregated Commitments of Traders report for the week ending May 21 showed money managers increased their speculative gross long positions in Comex gold futures by 12% to their highest level in over four years, with gold futures now net long 194k contracts.
U.S. futures markets are closed Monday for the Memorial Day long weekend, but gold prices are showing considerable strength to start the last week of May. At the time of writing, spot gold last traded at $2,355.61 per ounce, and is up 0.92% on the session.
Meanwhile, silver’s rally above $30 per ounce during the reporting period spurred a round of short selling in silver futures, which drove net longs down 4k to 37.7k total contracts.
The gray metal has defied the doubts of speculators, however, as silver prices managed to hold above the critical $30 per ounce level through the weekend and are outperforming gold once again on Monday. Spot silver last traded at $31.513 per ounce, up 3.92% on the session.
