COMEX to decrease spot month position limit for Gold Kilo Futures contract
Effective at the close of trading December 30, 2020 for the January 2021 contract month and beyond, the Commodity Exchange, Inc. (COMEX) will decrease the spot month position limit for the Gold Kilo Futures contract from 6,000 to 1,000 futures contract equivalents.
As a result of the decrease, the Exchange will concurrently reduce the single month and all month accountability levels. The Exchange notes that the spot month limits in the December 2020 contract month are unchanged.
As of October 31, 2020, the 3-year average monthly gold kilo inventory held at COMEX approved depositories totaled 599,033 troy ounces, the equivalent of 18,632 COMEX Gold Kilo Futures contracts. Gold kilo inventories have been generally trending lower over the past year.
As of November 30, 2019, gold kilo stocks stood at 838,723 troy ounces, or 26,087 contract equivalents. As of November 18, 2020, gold kilo inventories held at COMEX approved depositories totaled 156,800 troy ounces, the equivalent of 4,877 COMEX Gold Kilo Futures contracts.
Based on this updated deliverable supply, the Exchange is making the changes to the spot month limit. In addition, COMEX shall decrease single month and all month accountability levels of the Contract from 6,000 contracts to 2,000 contracts.
COMEX says that the Gold Kilo Futures contract is not readily subject to manipulation due to the deep liquidity and robustness in the underlying physical markets. The Exchange also notes that the speculative position limits for the contract are consistent with the CFTC’s guidance.