From a UBS research piece on gold, focusing on market positioning from latest data… “Gold Positioning At 2-Year High”
In summary (bolding is mine):
Positioning in precious metals expanded between January 20 and 27 (except palladium)
- Gold net longs were up … to … the highest level since December 2012
- A combination of fresh longs and short-covering – while gross longs continued their uptrend, gold’s attempts to breach the $1300 psychological level during this period likely spooked shorts out of their positions
- Gold net speculative length is up by 10.00moz so far this year
- This sharp increase in positioning over a short period raises the risk of a washout up ahead
- The move towards $1250 late last week likely already reflected some long liquidation
- That gold gross shorts are at the lowest since August also suggests there is currently more room to rebuild positions.
- Overall, gold ETFs added 1.93moz to holdings in January, marking the first monthly gain since July last year and the largest inflow since September 2012
In the week to January 30:
- Gold ETF holdings were up 0.47moz to 57.06moz.
- In January, total ETF holdings were up 1.93moz, posting highest monthly gain since October 2012
- The rolling monthly change stood at 1.90moz against 1.41moz of the previous week
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Gold over the past 6 months:
