Gold Physical Market Brief: August 14, 2026

Executive summary

Physical delivery for the August Gold contract continues at a steady pace, with month-to-date intentions now exceeding 17,600 contracts. While today's activity was light at 90 contracts, it follows a more substantial 856 contracts in the prior session, indicating persistent demand for physical settlement. This strong physical offtake aligns with the latest Commitments of Traders (COT) data, which shows a significant net-long position held by Managed Money, suggesting speculative sentiment is currently backed by physical market flows.

Delivery intentions (today + MTD context)

For the August 2026 COMEX 100 Gold Futures contract, today's report shows 90 contracts issued for delivery and an equal number stopped (taken for delivery).

• Today (Aug 14): 90 contracts issued/stopped.
• Prior Day (Aug 13): 856 contracts issued/stopped.
• Month-to-Date (MTD): The cumulative delivery total for the August contract has now reached 17,626 contracts.

The delivery volume for the active month has been consistent, building from 14,154 contracts on August 3rd to the current level, signaling robust demand for physical metal through the futures market.

Warehouse stocks

CME Group does not publish detailed, depository-level warehouse stock data for COMEX Gold futures. Analysis must therefore rely on delivery intention flows.

COT cross-check

The latest positioning data provides a useful cross-check against the physical market's strength.

• Managed Money (Speculators): This group holds a strongly bullish net-long position of 137,662 contracts (148,634 long vs. 10,972 short).
• Producer/Merchant (Commercials): This cohort holds a net-short position of -27,935 contracts (15,716 long vs. 43,651 short), which is typical for hedging activity.

The significant physical demand, as evidenced by 17,626 contracts standing for delivery MTD, is consistent with the large net-long position held by speculators. At present, there is no major divergence between speculative positioning and physical market flows.

Risks and watchpoints

• Delivery Taper: Watch for the volume of delivery notices to slow as the August delivery period matures. A sharp drop-off could indicate that near-term physical demand has been satisfied.
• Rollover vs. New Demand: It will be important to monitor whether this strong demand for physical delivery persists into the next active contract month or if it was concentrated in the August contract.
• Positioning vs. Price: The alignment between strong speculative longs and physical offtake suggests conviction. However, a rapid liquidation of this large net-long position, should sentiment change, could pressure the market if physical demand does not absorb the selling.