By CountingPips.com
The latest Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that futures speculators trimmed their short positions of the US dollar against the other major currencies for a second straight week. Non-commercial futures positions, those taken by hedge funds and large speculators, were overall net short the US dollar by $23.2 billion against other major currencies as of the February 22nd data release. This is a decrease from a total short position of $23.2 billion on February 15th, according to the CFTC 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.
This week’s data saw some notable changes with euro positions increasing to their highest level since October while Japanese yen positions have fallen to their lowest level since May 2010. Mexican peso long positions have risen for seven straight weeks and now sit at the highest net long position in over a year.
EuroFx: Currency speculators added to their net long positions for the euro against the U.S. dollar after declines the previous two weeks. Futures positions in the euro rose to a total of 45,598 long positions as of February 22nd following a total of 32,464 long positions on February 15th. This is the highest net long euro position since October 19th when euro positions were +46,748.
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, where as a net short amount of contracts means that more speculators are betting that currency to fall against the dollar and 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: Speculators decreased their net long British pound sterling bets following six straight weeks of gains. Sterling long positions declined to a total of 36,009 long positions after totaling 52,572 long positions as of February 15th.
JPY: The Japanese yen net contracts decreased for a second straight week as of February 22nd to the lowest level since May 2010. Yen positions fell to a total of 27,746 short contracts following a total of 18,548 net short contracts reported on February 15th.
CHF: Swiss franc long positions rose for a second consecutive week to a total of 12,291 long contracts, according to the COT data as of February 15th. Franc contracts totaled a net of 10,518 long contracts on February 8th.
CAD: The Canadian dollar positions retreated after advancing sharply higher the previous week to the highest level since March 2010. Canadian dollar long positions dipped to a total of 68,348 net long contracts on February 22nd after registering 72,090 net longs on February 15th.
AUD: The Australian dollar long positions were almost unchanged from the previous week. AUD contracts totaled a net amount of 66,064 long contracts as of February 22nd after AUD positions had totaled 65,514 net long contracts on February 15th.
NZD: New Zealand dollar futures positions headed lower for a second week to a total of 8,101 long positions as of February 22nd. NZD large speculator long positions had dipped the previous week to a total of 9,810 long contracts on February 15th.
MXN: Mexican peso long contracts continued to rise higher for a seventh consecutive week. Peso long positions increased to 114,276 net long positions as of February 22nd after totaling 109,096 longs the week prior on February 15th.
COT Data Summary as of February 22, 2011
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar
Euro: +45,598
British pound sterling: +36,009
Japanese yen: -27,746
Swiss franc: +12,291
Canadian dollar: +68,348
Australian dollar: +66,064
New Zealand dollar: +8,101
Mexican peso: +114,276
Further COT Resources from around the web:
