New bullish bets are entering the market, according to the latest data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Gold is near $2,000 an ounce, while silver has broken a long-term downward trend and is holding above $24 an ounce.
For both metals, bullish speculative positions are well below historical norms, so as more investors enter the market, there is a lot of upside potential.
And more investors will emerge as central banks continue to buy gold, building a strong foothold in the market.
According to the CFTC's disaggregated Commitments of Traders report for the week, financial managers on the Comex increased their speculative long positions in gold futures by 5,440 contracts to 130,530. At the same time, short positions shrank by 12,491 contracts to 31,370.
With banks completely transforming the precious metals market, there is a possibility that the ongoing banking crisis will increase the demand for gold and silver as safe-haven assets.
French bank Societe Generale noted that $3.5 billion entered the gold market last week.
The silver market, too, is now purely bullish.
On the Comex, speculative long positions in silver futures rose 1,338 contracts to 31,927 contracts, while short positions decreased 9,220 contracts to 21,646 contracts, according to the disaggregated report. Silver now has a net long of 10,281 contracts, which is the highest level since the end of January.
And with the price holding above $24 an ounce, the market is clearly improving.
