Gold Speculators Retreat as Ghana Halts Exports

Institutional investors have been reducing their bullish bets on gold futures, causing net long positions to drop to their lowest level since July. According to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), speculative investors trimmed their wagers on rising prices in the latest reporting period.

The CFTC's snapshot for the week ending September 29 showed a contraction of 7,071 contracts in net long positions, bringing them down to 120,318 units. This retreat by institutional speculators comes amid a market searching for direction, with rate and currency dynamics keeping a tight lid on commodity trading ranges.

The pullback reflects the uncertain interest-rate landscape in the US, where elevated Treasury yields and a firm dollar have repeatedly capped larger price advances. Despite this, analysts at Bybit note that gold could recover further in the near term if Treasury yields have indeed peaked.