S&P 500 Mini Speculators Decreased Bearish Bets
Zachary Storella | Mar 24, 2019 02:18AM ET
S&P 500 Mini Non-Commercial Speculator Positions:
Large stock market speculators continued to trim their bearish net positions in the S&P 500 Mini futures markets this week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.
The non-commercial futures contracts of S&P 500 Mini futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of -48,034 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday, March 19th. This was a weekly increase of 18,864 net contracts from the previous week which had a total of -66,898 net contracts.
The week’s net position was the result of the gross bullish position (longs) tumbling by -9,991 contracts to a weekly total of 329,711 contracts but being more than offset by the gross bearish position (shorts) which saw a decline by -28,855 contracts for the week to a total of 377,745 contracts.
The net speculator position has been shedding their bearish bets for two straight weeks and for three out of the past four weeks. Speculators turned negative on this market late in January well after the sharp market drops in December and have overall been caught on the wrong side of the market during the run-up in January, February and March.
S&P 500 Mini Commercial Positions:
The commercial traders' position, hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of 45,543 contracts on the week. This was a weekly decline of -18,526 contracts from the total net of 64,069 contracts reported the previous week.
S&P 500 Mini Futures:
Over the same weekly reporting time-frame, from Tuesday to Tuesday, the S&P 500 Mini Futures (Front Month) closed at approximately $2836.50 which was an uptick of $39.25 from the previous close of $2797.25, according to unofficial market data.
Get The News You Want
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.