By CountingPips.com
The latest COT data out on Friday showed that futures speculators bets for the U.S. dollar against the euro were higher for a second straight week as of June 29th, according to the Commitments of Traders (COT) data released by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Non-commercial futures positions, those taken by hedge funds and large speculators, were net short the euro against the U.S. dollar by -73,670 contracts after being net short the euro by -70,974 contracts the week before on June 22nd.
The COT report is published every Friday by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) 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, where as a net short amount of contracts means that more speculators are expecting that currency to fall against the dollar and net longs expect that currency to rise versus the dollar.
Other major currencies net short in the CME futures market against the dollar as of June 29th were the British pound and the Swiss franc while the Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar and Mexican peso all had a net long amount of contracts against the dollar.
The British Pound Sterling net shorts decreased to -34,771 from a total of -46,346
that were reported net short on June 22nd while the Swiss franc positions were net short -12,848 contracts after -10,265 net shorts the week before.
The New Zealand dollar futures positions rose over to the long side with 822 long contracts last week and increased to 2,486 long contracts as of June 29th. The Japanese yen net long contracts surged to 27,427 as of June 29th following 3,630 long contracts on June 22nd. Investors have reversed their yen positions substantially from being short by 65,612 contracts on May 4th.
The Australian dollar futures positions were net long by 12,854 contracts as of June 15th, edging higher after totaling net 11,806 long contracts on June 22nd and down from a total of 80,674 net longs on April 13th.
The Canadian dollar long positions fell to net 15,894 contracts and after 26,353 net longs the week before while the Mexican peso long contracts moved higher for a third straight week to 42,496 longs from 35,639 longs the prior week.
COT Data Summary (vs. the US Dollar) as of June 29th
Australian dollar net long on June 29 increase to 12,854 contracts from 11,806
British pound sterling futures contracts were net short by -34,771 from -46,346
Canadian dollar net long contracts fell to 15,894 from 26,353
Euro net short positions declined for a second straight week to -73,670 from -70,974
Japanese yen futures contracts after turning net long last week at +3,630 registered long contracts of 27,427
New Zealand dollar long positions increased to 2,486 on June 29 from net long of 822 contracts on June 22
Mexican peso long contracts increased for third week in a row to 42,496 from 35,639 on June 22
Swiss franc short contracts dipped on June 29 to -12,848 from -10,265 on June 22
