Gold Physical Market Brief: September 23, 2026

Executive summary

• Daily Delivery Flow: 198 contracts (19,800 troy oz) were issued and stopped for the September 2026 COMEX 100 Gold Futures (GC) contract, bringing month-to-date (MTD) cumulative deliveries to 4,065 contracts.
• Pricing & Pace: Delivery notices occurred at a settlement price of $4,281.30 USD, reflecting a moderate pullback from price levels seen earlier in the month ($4,385.90 on September 18 and $4,491.70 on September 3).
• Positioning vs. Physical Reality: Managed Money maintains an overwhelmingly net-long profile (+133,116 contracts as of September 18), while physical delivery activity remains orderly and moderate compared to the heavy delivery cycles seen in major active delivery months like August (20,343 MTD contracts).

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Delivery intentions (today + MTD context)

• Current Session Delivery Data (Intent Date: September 23, 2026 | Delivery Date: September 25, 2026):
  • Contract: SEPTEMBER 2026 COMEX 100 GOLD FUTURES (GC)
  • Daily Issued / Stopped: 198 contracts
  • Settlement Price: $4,281.30 USD
  • Cumulative Month-to-Date (MTD): 4,065 contracts

Trend and Historical Delivery Context

• Late-Month Volume: Daily deliveries have maintained a steady pace over the past week (198 contracts on Sep 23, 340 on Sep 22, 303 on Sep 18, and 204 on Sep 16), up from the single-to-double digit delivery quiet period observed between September 9 and September 14 (3 to 72 contracts per day).
• Delivery Pace Comparison: The September delivery cycle (4,065 MTD contracts) represents a lighter non-major delivery month relative to August 2026, which recorded 20,343 COMEX 100 Gold delivery contracts alongside 4,614 Micro Gold delivery contracts.

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Warehouse stocks

• CME does not publish COMEX warehouse stock figures in this data stream (warehouse_stocks: null).

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COT cross-check

• CFTC Commitments of Traders (as of September 18, 2026):
  • Total Open Interest: 409,899 contracts
  • Managed Money Positioning: 142,394 Long vs. 9,278 Short (Net Long: +133,116 contracts; Long/Short ratio of ~15.3:1)
  • Producer/Merchant Positioning: 16,396 Long vs. 44,457 Short (Net Short: -28,061 contracts)

Positioning vs. Physical Cross-Check

While speculative funds hold a heavily crowded net-long stance (+133,116 contracts), gold prices have drifted lower from $4,385.90 on September 18 to $4,281.30 on September 23. The steady physical delivery absorption (moving MTD from 3,527 to 4,065 contracts over the same span) shows orderly settlement into contract expiration without signs of physical delivery squeezes or abrupt commercial distress.

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Risks and watchpoints

• Speculative Liquidation Risk: With Managed Money net-long positioning stretched near 15:1 long-to-short and prices declining toward the $4,280 level, a continuation of short-term price weakness could trigger automated long-covering in paper markets.
• September Contract Expiration: As the final delivery dates for the September 2026 contract approach, monitor whether the final tranche of open interest rolls to back months or converts to physical delivery.
• Commercial Hedging Flow: Watch whether commercial producers expand short hedges if prices attempt to retest early September highs ($4,400+).