CFTC S&P 500 Non-Commercial Net Positions

Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) S&P 500 Non-Commercial Net Positions weekly report reflects the difference between the total volume of long and short S&P 500 index positions existing in the market and opened by non-commercial (speculative) traders. The report only includes US futures markets (Chicago and New York Exchanges). So the indicator is a net volume of long S&P 500 positions in the United States.

Non-commercial traders open positions NOT for hedging in the futures or options market. This group includes only speculative operations. The same trader can be defined as commercial for trades with some assets and non-commercial with others. This classification is reflected in CFTC reports.

CFTC publishes report on net positions and commitments of traders to help traders and analysts understand the market dynamics. These reports are compiled on the basis of data on positions provided by FCM brokers, clearing companies and currency exchanges. The CFTC analytical department only provides data, but does not provide explanation on why such ratio of positions has formed.

S&P 500 is one of the two main indexes of US stock markets. The index characterizes the dynamics of security quotes. It is comprised of separate indexes of 500 largest US company stocks. In addition to index dynamics, analysts often monitor net positions of index futures. Net positions can indirectly characterize near-term outlook of the US stock market.