Metals · Market page
Gold
Balanced exposure sits in the 42nd percentile. The lead participant net position changed +4.4K contracts over the latest week.
Positions as of21 Jul 2026Released 25 Jul 2026
01
Positioning history
Current exposure in its own range.
Positioning historyGold exposure is measured against its own history.Lead participant rolling z-score
2026-07-21+0.25σ
02
Participant structure
Who carries the reported exposure.
ParticipantNet contractsRelative size
Managed money+123.6K
Non-reportables+30.1K
Other reportables+52.6K
Producers / merchants−17.4K
Swap dealers−188.8K
CFTC participant categories vary by report family. The primary positioning series uses managed money for physical commodities and leveraged funds for financial futures.
03
Curve context
Term structure, shown separately.
Curve contextThe futures curve is indexed to the front contract.contango · Front contract = 100
04
Comparable states
What followed similar positioning.
| Positioning bucket | N | 4W positive | 8W positive | 12W positive | Avg 12W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| z ≥ 2.0 (extreme long) | 48 | 50.0% | 52.1% | 54.2% | +0.17% |
| 1.5 ≤ z < 2.0 | 45 | 46.7% | 62.2% | 66.7% | -0.66% |
| 1.0 ≤ z < 1.5 | 77 | 53.2% | 48.1% | 39.0% | +1.68% |
| neutral (−1.0 < z < 1.0) | 389 | 53.5% | 50.9% | 49.5% | +2.83% |
| −1.5 < z ≤ −1.0 | 133 | 45.9% | 41.4% | 47.7% | +0.37% |
| −2.0 < z ≤ −1.5 | 81 | 61.7% | 64.2% | 64.2% | +3.00% |
| z ≤ −2.0 (extreme short) | 36 | 75.0% | 58.3% | 69.4% | +3.38% |
Overlapping historical observations. Periods and sample sizes are shown so the comparison can be read in context.