Gold and oil under pressure: markets show growing skepticism!

In the week ending April 22, 2025, increasing skepticism towards gold futures was noted in the futures markets. According to that Report from finanzen.net The number of open contracts (open interest) rose from 456,600 to 465,350 futures, which corresponds to an increase of 2.3 percent. At the same time, sentiment among major futures speculators deteriorated significantly: the long position was reduced by 12,800 futures, while the short position was increased by 14,000 contracts. This caused the net long position to fall from 202,200 to 175,400 futures, a decline of 13.3 percent.

The net long position among small speculators also fell, from 29,700 to 26,900 contracts, which corresponds to a loss of 9.4 percent. The world's largest gold ETF, SPDR Gold Shares, saw its gold holdings fall from 952.29 to 946.27 tonnes within the week. On Monday morning, however, gold prices were higher, with the most active gold futures for June falling by $6.50 to $3,304.90 per troy ounce.

Development of oil prices

Oil prices, on the other hand, had a positive start to the week, supported by hopes of an easing of trade tensions between the USA and China. While there is uncertainty about the start of formal trade talks between the two countries, reported finance.net about a softening of President Trump's rhetoric toward China and the fact that Beijing exempted some U.S. imports from high tariffs. Despite this positive news, there are concerns about potential oversupply, particularly from advances in Iran's nuclear program, which could result in an increase in Iranian oil exports. On Monday morning, WTI futures prices rose 0.45 to $63.47, while Brent futures rose 0.41 to $66.21.