US CFTC data shows gold NC net positions fell to 159.2K from 159.9K in the prior reading.<\/p>\n
This is a decrease of 0.7K in net positions.<\/p>\n
We are seeing that large speculators have trimmed their net long positions in gold futures. This is not a massive shift, but it indicates a slight cooling of the bullish conviction that has been driving the market. Traders should view this as a sign that the upward momentum could be stalling.<\/p>\n
This change comes as the January 2026 core PCE inflation data, released last week, came in at a stubborn 3.1%, higher than the anticipated 2.9%. This makes the Federal Reserve less likely to signal rate cuts in the near term, putting pressure on non-yielding assets like gold. The market is now pricing in less than a 40% chance of a rate cut before the third quarter.<\/p>\n
Looking back, we remember the strong rally through the latter half of 2025, which was fueled by expectations of a dovish Fed pivot. Speculative net long positions at that time peaked near 215K contracts, so our current level of 159.2K represents a significant reduction from that optimism. The market is clearly more cautious now than it was just a few months ago.<\/p>\n
Given this setup, derivative traders holding long positions should consider hedging their exposure. Buying puts with a strike price around the $2,400 per ounce level could provide effective downside protection over the next several weeks. This strategy allows for continued participation in any upside while capping potential losses.<\/p>\n
We are also watching the 10-year Treasury yield, which has climbed back to 4.5% this month, its highest level since late 2025. The increasing opportunity cost of holding gold is likely a key reason some large funds are reducing their positions. This macro pressure adds weight to the signal we are seeing in the positioning data.<\/p>\n
Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CFTC data shows gold NC net positions edged down to 159.2K from 159.9K, down 0.7K.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":16978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":{"acf_article_selection_author":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}