By CountingPips.com
The latest Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that large futures speculators cut their overall US dollar bets last week for a third week and registered a total short position in the USD for the first time since October 30th.
Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large speculators, registered a US dollar short position total of 1.03 billion on December 11th and down from a total long position of $920.79 million on December 4th, according to the CFTC COT data and calculations by Reuters which calculates the dollar positions against the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc.
Individual Currencies:
EuroFX: Currency speculator sentiment for the euro improved last week for a third straight week and to a new high level for the year. Euro net short positions or bets against the currency declined to 31,623 contracts on December 11th from the previous week’s total of 32,795 net short contracts on December 4th. Euro positions are at their best level since August 30th 2011 when positions were short by just 384 contracts.
The COT report is published every Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows futures positions as of the previous Tuesday. It can be a useful tool for traders to gauge investor sentiment and to look for potential changes in the direction of a currency or commodity.
Each currency contract is a quote for that currency directly against the U.S. dollar, a net short amount of contracts means that more speculators are betting that currency to fall against the dollar and a net long position expect that currency to rise versus the dollar.
(The graphs overlay the forex spot closing price of each Tuesday when COT trader positions are reported for each corresponding spot currency pair.)
GBP: British pound sterling positions rose slightly last week to advance for a third straight week. British pound speculative positions rose to a total of 27,954 net long contracts on December 11th following a total of 27,270 net long contracts on December 4th. Last week’s total is the second highest level all year for pound positions after the October 30th total of 30,094 contracts.
JPY: Japanese yen speculative contracts continued their sharp decline last week for a fourth consecutive week and brought yen sentiment to its lowest level in over five years. Japanese yen positions decreased to a total of 94,401 net short contracts reported on December 11th following a decline to a total of 90,326 net short contracts on December 4th.
CHF: Swiss franc speculator positions increased last week for a third consecutive week. Speculator positions for the Swiss currency futures registered a total of 3,209 net long contracts on December 11th following a total of 636 net long contracts as of December 4th. Swiss franc positions are at their highest level since September 20th 2011 when long positions equaled 4,221 contracts.
CAD: Canadian dollar positions edged higher after decreasing the previous week. Canadian dollar positions rose to a total of 62,533 net long contracts as of December 11th following a total of 57,071 net long contracts that were reported for December 4th.
AUD: The Australian dollar positions increased last week for a third straight week and reached a new 2012 high level. Aussie speculative futures positions rose to a total net amount of 103,376 long contracts on December 11th after totaling 92,229 net long contracts as of December 4th. Australian dollar contracts have risen seven out of the last eight weeks.
NZD: New Zealand dollar speculator positions advanced last week for a third straight week and have also reached a new 2012 high level. NZD contracts rose higher to a total of 24,600 net long contracts as of December 11th following a total of 21,088 net long contracts on December 4th. The New Zealand dollar speculator positions are at their highest level in 2012 surpassing the previous high on February 20th at 24,211 contracts.
MXN: Mexican peso speculative contracts rose sharply last week for a third straight week and advanced to a new 2012 high level. Peso positions increased to a total of 149,271 net long speculative positions as of December 11th following a total of 118,962 long contracts that were reported for December 4th. This new high surpasses the September 25th level of 141,256 contracts that was the previous high level for this year.
Article by CountingPips.com – Forex News & Market Analysis
