Traders approaching the final session of the trading week should expect a pair of widely watched, recurring releases that together offer fresh context on both physical activity in the drilling sector and the speculative footprint across futures markets.
On Friday, March 20, 2026, the day will begin with the weekly Baker Hughes rig counts at 12:00 PM ET. The release will include the Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count, which previously stood at 412, and the Baker Hughes Total U.S. Rig Count, which previously registered 553. These tallies measure the number of active drilling rigs and are commonly monitored as an early gauge of demand for oil-related products and for services in the drilling industry.
Markets will then await the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Commitments of Traders reports at 3:30 PM ET. These weekly filings break down net positions held by speculative traders across a broad array of futures markets and are used by market participants to assess sentiment among non-commercial accounts. The afternoon slate includes data on equity index futures, multiple energy contracts, precious and industrial metals, and major agricultural commodities.
The CFTC reports scheduled for 3:30 PM ET and their prior reference points are as follows:
- S&P 500 speculative positions - Previous: -134.5K. This figure reflects the net positions held by speculative traders in S&P 500 futures.
- Nasdaq 100 speculative positions - Previous: 24.9K. Net speculative positioning in Nasdaq 100 futures contracts.
- Gold speculative positions - Previous: 163.1K. Weekly breakdown of speculative trading in gold futures.
- Crude oil speculative positions - Previous: 228.0K. Net positions held by speculative traders in crude oil futures markets.
- Aluminium speculative net positions - Previous: -1.6K. Weekly report on speculative positioning in aluminum futures markets.
- Copper speculative positions - Previous: 51.7K. Net speculative positions in copper futures, providing a window into industrial metals sentiment.
- Silver speculative positions - Previous: 24.6K. Weekly breakdown of speculative trader positions in silver futures markets.
- Natural gas speculative positions - Previous: -186.9K. Net positions held by speculative traders in natural gas futures.
- Wheat speculative positions - Previous: -29.2K. Speculative positioning in wheat futures contracts.
- Corn speculative positions - Previous: 257.8K. Weekly report on net speculative positions in corn futures.
- Soybeans speculative positions - Previous: 230.3K. Speculative trader positioning in soybean futures markets.
Taken together, the Baker Hughes rig counts and the CFTC Commitments of Traders reports offer complementary perspectives. The rig counts document a real-economy measure of drilling activity in the United States, while the CFTC filings enumerate how speculative traders are allocating risk across futures tied to equities, energy, metals and agriculture.
For market participants focused on energy, the midday rig tallies provide a direct indicator of active drilling capacity in the United States, and the crude oil speculative positions disclosed in the afternoon CFTC report show how leveraged or speculative accounts are positioned in oil futures. For those watching industrial metals and manufacturing-related inputs, the copper speculative positions entry will be a specific datapoint of interest. Agricultural markets will similarly be informed by the week’s net positions in soybeans, corn and wheat.
Investors and analysts looking for the latest published times and prior reference values can consult their regular economic calendars for updates on release timing. The scheduled times and the previous values listed here provide a clear reference to compare against the incoming figures when they are released during the trading session.
Note: This article lists scheduled release times and the prior-period reference values for the Baker Hughes rig counts and the CFTC Commitments of Traders reports that market participants will receive on Friday, March 20, 2026.