Gold Physical Delivery & Positioning Brief — October 5, 2026

Executive summary

• Delivery Activity: A total of 202 delivery notices were issued and stopped on October 5 for the October 2026 COMEX 100 Gold (GC) contract, lifting October month-to-date (MTD) deliveries to 11,828 contracts.
• Price & Delivery Trajectory: Gold settled at $4,128.40/oz on October 5. Early October physical uptake remains steady following a moderate spike on October 2 (1,021 notices across standard and micro contracts).
• Positioning Alignment: CFTC Commitments of Traders (COT) positioning as of October 2 reflects heavy speculative net length (+120,318 contracts for Managed Money), supporting the persistent physical delivery flow seen across recent contract cycles.

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Delivery intentions (today + MTD context)

On October 5, 2026, COMEX recorded 202 contract delivery notices (issued and stopped), scheduled for delivery on October 7, 2026:

• OCTOBER 2026 COMEX 100 GOLD FUTURES:
  • Daily Issued/Stopped: 202 contracts (20,200 troy oz)
  • Settlement Price: $4,128.40 USD
  • Month-to-Date (MTD): 11,828 contracts
• OCTOBER 2026 MICRO GOLD FUTURES:
  • Daily Issued/Stopped: 0 contracts
  • Settlement Price: $4,128.40 USD
  • Month-to-Date (MTD): 2,820 contracts

Historical & Trend Context

• October Run-Rate: Physical delivery pace picked up immediately at the start of October, with 290 contracts delivered on October 1 and 1,021 contracts (led by 860 Micro Gold contracts) on October 2. The 202 standard contracts delivered today bring aggregate October 100-oz deliveries to 11,828.
• Prior Cycles: Delivery intensity in October continues the solid pace observed in earlier active delivery cycles, such as August 2026 (which finished at 20,343 standard contracts delivered) and well above the smaller September intermediate cycle (4,183 contracts).

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Warehouse stocks

• CME warehouse stock figures are not reported in the current dataset for this reporting date.

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COT cross-check

The latest CFTC Commitments of Traders data (as of October 2, 2026) highlights a strong speculative tailwind alongside active physical absorption:

• Open Interest: 406,456 contracts
• Managed Money: 131,711 longs vs. 11,393 shorts (Net Long: +120,318 contracts)
• Commercials (Producer/Merchant): 18,200 longs vs. 39,463 shorts (Net Short: -21,263 contracts)

Divergence Analysis: Managed Money net positioning is heavily skewed to the long side (over 11.5 long contracts for every 1 short). This speculative bullish bias aligns with continuous physical demand and firm month-to-date delivery figures (11,828 standard contracts) as October contract deliveries unfold.

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Risks and watchpoints

• Delivery Deceleration: Watch whether daily delivery intentions taper significantly following the initial October roll and delivery surge, which could signal waning commercial absorption at current price levels ($4,128.40/oz).
• Speculative Overextension: With Managed Money short exposure compressed to just 11,393 contracts against 131,711 longs, any unexpected macro shift could trigger profit-taking and long liquidations in futures open interest.
• Micro Contract Activity: Monitor secondary delivery demand in the Micro Gold contract after the surge of 860 notices stopped on October 2.