UNITED STATES July 21 2016 2:17 PM

NEW YORK (Scrap Register): Gold appears to have entered into a quieter summer trading period, said UBS and HSBC. 

According to UBS, the yellow metal has been in a narrowing range since last month’s U.K. referendum to leave the European Union and the number of futures positions is declining.

With the Northern Hemisphere summer well under way, the gold market seems to have entered its usual summer lull for now. Comex positioning data as of July 12th tends to corroborate this view; net longs declined by 1.46moz (million ounces) to 35.74moz and a closer look at the data reveals that this was caused by both longs and shorts cutting back positions. This paring back of open positions could suggest the desire to be flat before going off on summer holidays.

HSBC cites thin trading volume lately. “Gold may be entering the summer doldrums and it is hard to see what might motivate prices in the immediate term….There is always the possibility of a geopolitical event shaking the market up, but short of that things look quiet and likely to continue to be subdued,” said HSBC. 

“Investor buying appears to have eased, with the ETFs (exchange-traded-fund interest) flattening out and net-long positions on the Comex being pared,” HSBC added.