By CountingPips.com
The latest Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that large currency speculators continued to decrease their overall US dollar long positions last week. Speculators increased their bets in favor of the pro-risk currencies such as the Australian dollar New Zealand dollar and Canadian dollar while short positions in the euro were trimmed.
Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large speculators, cut their total US dollar long positions to $4.57 billion on August 21st from a total long position of $8.92 billion on August 14th, 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:
CAD: Canadian dollar positions advanced higher for a fourth consecutive week and surged to their best level since May 15th. Canadian dollar positions rose to a total of 50,867 net long contracts as of August 21st following a total of 20,593 net short contracts that were reported for August 14th. The Canadian currency positions are at the highest level since May 15th when long positions equaled 51,005 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.)
AUD: The Australian dollar positions continued to surge sharply higher last week, rising for the fifth consecutive week and bringing Aussie positions to the highest level all year. Aussie speculative futures positions advanced to a total net amount of 86,882 long contracts on August 21st after totaling 66,679 net long contracts as of August 14th. The improvement in Aussie contracts brought positions to their highest level since April 12, 2011 when long positions totaled 90,651 contracts.
NZD: New Zealand dollar speculator positions increased for an 11th straight week and continued to be at the highest level since early March. NZD contracts increased to a total of 16,372 net long contracts as of August 21st following a total of 15,247 net long contracts on August 14th. The kiwi contracts are just below their highest level since March 5th when contracts equaled 16,788 long positions.
MXN: Mexican peso speculative contracts advanced higher again last week and jumped to the highest level all year. Peso positions increased to a total of 97,981 net long speculative positions as of August 21st following a total of 83,511 long contracts that were reported for August 14th. Peso positions are now at their highest level since July 12, 2011 when long positions equaled 98,447 contracts.
EuroFX: Currency speculator sentiment for the euro rebounded last week after dipping the previous week. Euro net short positions or bets against the currency decreased to 123,932 contracts on August 21st from the previous week’s total of 137,810 net short contracts on August 14th. Euro short positions are at their best level since May 1st when short positions equaled 106,990 contracts.
GBP: British pound sterling positions improved last week for a second straight week and brought contracts to their best position since May 22nd. British pound sterling speculative positions totaled 7,833 net long contracts on August 21st following a total of 288 net short contracts on August 14th. The latest week’s position for the British currency is the best level since May 22nd when long positions equaled 11,340 contracts.
JPY: Japanese yen speculative contracts decreased sharply as of the August 21st data following a small advance the previous week. Japanese yen positions totaled 11,171 net long contracts reported on August 21st following a total of 30,704 net long contracts on August 14th.
CHF: Swiss franc speculator positions improved last week after edging lower the previous week. Speculator positions for the Swiss currency futures registered a total of 15,662 net short contracts on August 21st following a total of 18,854 net short contracts as of August 14th.
COT Currency Data Summary as of August 21, 2012
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar
EUR -123932
GBP +7833
JPY +11171
CHF -15662
CAD +50867
AUD +86882
NZD +16372
MXN +97981
