From Day this afternoon:
NEW YORK–Money managers held a record number of bets on lower gold prices on the main U.S. gold exchange, according to data released Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Hedge funds and other investment managers tracked by the commodity regulator boosted their bets on lower Comex-traded gold futures and options by 33%, to 65,617 contracts, during the week ended Tuesday. That is the most in weekly CFTC data going back to June 2006.
Money managers still held more bets that prices would rise than bets they would fall, though by the lowest margin in more than four years. Their net long, or the amount of bets on higher prices less the number of bets on lower prices, stood at 42,318 contracts, the least since November 2008.
The funds’ retreat from the gold market has come as futures prices sank to multimonth lows. Some investors buy the metal in the belief that it will outperform other assets during economic turmoil, and especially when the threat of inflation is high.
With the U.S. economy showing signs of recovery, Europe’s debt crisis in a quiet period, and Chinese data revealing an uptick in economic growth, investor demand for gold has waned. The rise of U.S. stock markets to multiyear highs has also spurred money managers to exit gold bets, analysts say.
This week, speculation that the Federal Reserve may pull back its easy-money policies has limited expectations for inflation.
Comex gold futures for April delivery on Friday settled down 0.4% at $1,572.80 a troy ounce, a seven-month low. |
