According to data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), speculative traders increased their net long positions in several key commodities during the week ending May 5th.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange (COMEX), speculators raised their net long positions in gold by 4,090 contracts to 95,664 contracts. Net long positions in silver also increased, rising by 196 contracts to 10,941 contracts. Copper net long positions on COMEX saw a significant boost, growing by 2,348 contracts to 63,144 contracts.

In the energy sector, speculative traders reduced their net long positions in West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil by 2,220 contracts to 106,278 contracts. In the natural gas market, speculators cut their net short positions across the four major NYMEX and ICE exchanges by 2,466 contracts to 8,652 contracts.

In the foreign exchange markets for the week ending May 5th, the net short position for the British pound was -63,908 contracts. The euro held a net long position of 32,202 contracts. The Japanese yen's net short position stood at 61,738 contracts, while the Swiss franc's net short position was -34,521 contracts.

In equity futures, stock fund speculators reduced their net short position in CME S&P 500 futures by 6,871 contracts to 389,571 contracts.

Activity was also notable in the U.S. Treasury futures markets. Speculators reduced their net short positions across several maturities on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). The net short position in 5-Year Treasury Note futures was cut by 100,106 contracts to 1,421,299 contracts. The net short in 10-Year Treasury Note futures was reduced by 23,868 contracts to 815,269 contracts. The net short position in 2-Year Treasury Note futures was decreased by 35,934 contracts to 1,673,329 contracts. The net short position in Ultra Treasury Bond futures was lowered by 34,850 contracts to 259,435 contracts. Conversely, speculators increased their net short position in CBOT Treasury futures by 59,287 contracts to 172,942 contracts.

In the soft commodities markets on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), speculators increased their net long position in coffee by 1,644 contracts to 18,271 contracts. The net long position in cotton rose substantially by 12,977 contracts to 79,676 contracts. In the cocoa market, speculators reduced their net short position by 3,685 contracts to 32,668 contracts. In the sugar market, the net short position was cut by 39,185 contracts to 102,448 contracts.

On the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), agricultural commodity speculators were active buyers. The net long position in corn futures surged by 77,572 contracts to 206,559 contracts. The net long position in soybean futures increased by 31,638 contracts to 143,245 contracts.