NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - COMEX gold opened down Monday, with dealers sniffing a possible sentiment shift in Friday's Commitments of Traders report showing big speculators had gone short for the first time since early in the 2002 bull run.
December gold at 0917 EDT was off $2.70 at $312.70 an ounce. It traded from $315.40 to $311, cushioned by scale-down buying amid heavy trade house selling through the rings.
Floor brokers said an investment bank, commercial bank and financial trading firm hit the market at the open, taking the benchmark contract through stops around $312.60.
"There was no real news. It's pretty much technical after the run-up last week," said one, referring to two failed attempts to surmount resistance at $320.
Spot gold was at $310.85/1.35, down from $313.75/4.25 late Friday. London bullion dealers fixed the price of gold at $313.05 on Monday morning.
CFTC's Commitments of Traders report released after the close Friday showed noncommercial players had moved to a net short position of 476 contracts as of Tuesday, from a 977-contract long the previous week.
"The party is over," said a bullion dealer.
"The big picture item is the net speculative investment on COMEX, the big speculators reportable positions are now short ending a 31-week bull run -- the second longest," he said.
That left the small players carrying the flag. The "nonreportable" positions were still net long 29,908 contracts, little changed from the previous 30,402 lots.
"With no vulnerability (among funds), the market may look to pick on the nonreportable traders, although this only tends to be good for short, sharp swings," wrote IFR/Pegasus analyst Timothy Evans in a commentary late Friday.
Gold hit 2-1/2 year highs over $330 in early June, chased higher amid jitters about economic recovery, corporate fraud, U.S. saber rattling against Iraq and the threat of more terror attacks. Low dollar deposit rates increased the cost of carry for producers and speculators to sell gold forward.
The final capitulation came in late July. Selling by die-hard funds pushed December gold to $300.30 on Aug 1. Now a range trading mentality has settled over the market while dealers ponder the next move.
Direction might not be clear until the market comes back to normal liquidity with the return of players from summer holidays. The floor broker said a close below $310 would open up a $305-$312 range.
Dealers have reported strong trade interest at $310. Also, physical buying from top-consumer India is expected to pick up in coming weeks as the festival season of peak demand gets under way.
September silver was up 0.7 cent at $4.50 an ounce. It traded $4.52-$4.48, hovering above last week's four-month low at $4.45.
In silver news, Russia said Monday that Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov signed a resolution scrapping a 6.5 percent export tariff on silver.
The CFTC data showed funds had trimmed their net silver long to 22,737 contracts from 24,926 lots the previous week.
Spot silver was quoted unchanged at $4.49/51. Monday's fix was $4.4975.
NYMEX October platinum was $2.50 easier $554.50 an ounce. Spot platinum was at $551/555.
September palladium was $2.90 higher at $322 an ounce. Spot last fetched $317/322.