# Gold Futures Close Below $4,000 as Position Selling Totals $19.5 Billion

By Enna Lee

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/46091
Published: 2026-11-02T03:07:10.000Z
Updated: 2026-11-02T03:07:10.000Z
Section: Investing

> The “other” and nonreportable categories accounted for about 95% of five-week position reductions, which totaled $19.5 billion through Oct. 27.

December gold futures settled at $3,898.90 an ounce Friday, down 3.3%, as selling by the “other” and nonreportable categories helped drive prices below $4,000. Spot gold had fallen roughly 30% from its January record near $5,600.

Gold futures positions declined by $19.5 billion in the five weeks since Sept. 22. About $8 billion of selling in the latest week, through Oct. 27, came from managed money, “other” and nonreportable categories combined. Across the five-week period, the “other” and nonreportable categories accounted for about 95% of the selling; hedge funds were largely absent.

At about $4,000 an ounce, the five-week position reduction equaled roughly 150 metric tons of gold. At an estimated central bank buying pace of about 85 metric tons a month, the selling was roughly equivalent to nearly two months of buying. The “other” category covers large accounts outside managed money, while nonreportable positions are tracked separately.

Gold also fell during a week when several usual supports were present. From Oct. 20 to 27, the 10-year U.S. real yield declined 11 basis points, stocks came under pressure and Middle East tensions remained elevated, yet gold fell 1.6%. Brent crude rose 4.1% over the period, and the dollar index gained 0.6%.

Concerns about sovereign liquidity management and a stronger dollar contributed to the pressure. Some sovereign holders may need liquid dollar assets and could sell gold reserves to meet those needs. The “other” category’s long positions had moderately negative rolling six-month correlations with both the dollar and Brent crude; those relationships were consistent with a tendency for positions to decline when the dollar and oil rose.

As of Oct. 27, the “other” category’s long positions remained above their two-year median in both nominal size and as a share of open interest. That share had eased to about 18% from roughly 20% in mid-October. The standardized 25-delta put-call skew reached the 85th percentile of its one-year ranking, signaling stronger demand for downside protection.

The earlier expectation that $3,950 would hold had been disproved.