The recent CFTC report clearly indicates a shift in the market, as the sudden crash last week provoked hedge funds and money managers to liquidate their bullish rates and strengthen bearish positions.

To be more specific, the latest COT report shows that on Comex, CFMs reduced their speculative long positions in gold futures by 21,028 contracts to 111,892, while short positions increased by 33,442 contracts to 76,489 contracts.

Accordingly, the net length of gold is now 35,000 contracts, which is at most 64% lower than the previous week

But John Reed, chief strategist at the World Gold Council, said speculative positioning was more bearish in previous years.

In any case, sentiment on other assets turned bearish as well.

For example, long positions on silver futures also fell 4,247 contracts to 46,631, while short positions jumped 9,423 contracts to 34,891.

And now, the net length of silver is 11,740 contracts, which is almost 54% lower than the previous week.

Hedge funds also increased their bearish positions on copper, so speculative long positions fell 2,815 contracts to 62,475, while short positions increased by 4,729 contracts to 31,373. The net length of copper is now 31,102 contracts, down 19.5% from the previous week.