By CountingPips.com

The latest data for the weekly Commitment of Traders (COT) report, released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday, showed that large traders and currency speculators trimmed their overall US dollar bullish bets last week after four straight weeks of rises that had brought bullish bets to the highest level since May 2013.

Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large speculators, had an overall US dollar long position totaling $41.20 billion as of Tuesday October 21st, according to the latest data from the CFTC and dollar amount calculations by Reuters. This was a weekly change of -$1.84 billion from the $43.04 billion total long position that was registered on October 14th, according to the Reuters calculation that totals the US dollar contracts against the combined contracts of the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc.

The US dollar’s aggregate bullish position remains at a very strong level above +$40 billion and each of the individual tracked currencies have a net bearish position versus the dollar for a third straight week. Last week’s decline brings the USD position off of its highest level since May 28th 2013 when the total long position was +$43.77 billion.

Overall Speculative Net Contracts

In terms of total speculative contracts, overall US dollar contracts edged lower last week (after five straight weekly increases) to +329,955 contracts as of Tuesday October 21st. This was a change by -1,509 contracts from the total of +331,464 contracts as of Tuesday October 14th. This total US dollar contracts calculation takes into account more currencies than the Reuters dollar amount total and is derived by adding the sum of each individual currencies net position versus the dollar. Currency contracts used in the calculation are the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and the Mexican peso.

Major Currency Weekly Levels & Changes: All currencies have net bearish position versus the USD for 3rd week

Overall changes on the week for the major currencies showed that large speculators increased their bets last week in favor of just the Japanese yen and the New Zealand dollar while decreasing weekly bets for the euro, British pound sterling, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar and the Mexican Peso.

Notable changes on the week for the Major Currencies:

• Euro positions fell for a 3rd straight week and to a new lowest level since Sept 9th. The EURUSD exchange rate declined to end the week down by approximately -0.71% and closed below the 1.2700 level

• British pound sterling positions slightly declined last week for a 3rd week and overall positions remain slightly bearish (-4,485). The GBPUSD spot exchange rate has remained above the 1.6000 level for a 3rd weekly close

• Japanese yen bets jumped last week and rose for a 3rd week. Yen positions are now at the least bearish level since July

• Swiss franc bets edged lower last week for a 2nd weekly decline. The Franc positions remain on the bearish side for an eighteenth straight week while the USDCHF exchange rate closed the week above the 0.9500 level

• Canadian dollar positions declined lower last week and fell for a sixth week with positions at the most bearish level since June 10th. The USDCAD exchange rate ended the week still just hovering above the 1.1200 major level

• Australian dollar net positions fell for a seventh week last week to a new most bearish Aussie position since March. The AUDUSD finished the week modestly higher (+0.56%) to trade back near the 0.8800 level

• New Zealand dollar net positions rose ever so slightly last week (+52 contracts), however, positions remain slightly bearish overall. The NZDUSD dipped for the week by approximately -0.85% to end the week below the 0.7900 level

• Mexican peso positions decreased last week and fell to the most bearish level since February 25th. The peso spec positions have been on the bearish side for four straight weeks

This latest COT data is through Tuesday October 21st and shows a quick view of how large speculators and for-profit traders (non-commercials) were positioned in the futures markets. All currency positions are in direct relation to the US dollar where, for example, a bet for the euro is a bet that the euro will rise versus the dollar while a bet against the euro will be a bet that the dollar will gain versus the euro.

Please see the individual currency charts and their respective data points below.

Weekly Charts: Large Speculators Weekly Positions vs Currency Spot Price

EuroFX:

Last Six Weeks data for EuroFX futures

British Pound Sterling:

Last Six Weeks data for Pound Sterling futures

Japanese Yen:

Last Six Weeks data for Yen Futures

Swiss Franc:

Last Six Weeks data for Franc futures

Canadian Dollar:

Last Six Weeks data for Canadian dollar futures

Australian Dollar:

Last Six Weeks data for Australian dollar futures

New Zealand Dollar:

Last Six Weeks data for New Zealand dollar futures

Mexican Peso:

Last Six Weeks data for Mexican Peso futures

*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators).

The Commitment of Traders report is published every Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows futures positions data that was reported as of the previous Tuesday (3 days behind).

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.) See more information and explanation on the weekly COT report from the CFTC website.

All information contained in this article cannot be guaranteed to be accurate and is used at your own risk. All information and opinions on this website are for general informational purposes only and do not in any way constitute investment advice.

Article by CountingPips.com – Forex Apps & News