{"id":20458,"date":"2011-04-03T22:28:35","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T02:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/fx\/?p=20458"},"modified":"2011-04-03T22:28:35","modified_gmt":"2011-04-04T02:28:35","slug":"forex-large-currency-speculators-trim-usd-shorts-gbp-jpy-positions-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/2011\/04\/03\/forex-large-currency-speculators-trim-usd-shorts-gbp-jpy-positions-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"FOREX: Large Currency Speculators trim USD Shorts. GBP, JPY positions fall."},"content":{"rendered":"

By CountingPips.com<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most recent Commitments of Traders (COT)<\/a> report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that futures speculators decreased short positions of the US dollar against the other major currencies. Non-commercial futures positions, those taken by hedge funds and large speculators, were overall net short the US dollar by $27.77 billion against other major currencies as of March 29th. This is a decline from the total short position of $29.82 billion on March 22nd, 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.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s notable changes included Japanese yen positions declining sharply after two straight weeks of increases, British pound sterling positions falling back towards the short side after a gain last week and Australian dollar positions rising to the highest level in over a year.<\/p>\n

EuroFx: <\/strong>Currency speculators increased their net long positions for the euro against the U.S. dollar for second consecutive week. Futures positions in the euro rose to a total of 56,630 long positions as of March 29th following a total of 48,353 long positions on March 22nd.<\/p>\n

\"euro<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

GBP: <\/strong>British pound sterling bets fell as of the March 29th data release. GBP fell to a total of 743 long contracts as of March 29th after registering 29,724 long contracts on March 22nd.<\/p>\n

\"GBP<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

JPY: <\/strong>The Japanese yen net contracts fell sharply after advancing for two straight weeks. Yen contracts dropped to a total of 7,052 long contracts following a total of 34,525 net long contracts reported on March 22nd.<\/p>\n

\"USDJPY,<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHF: <\/strong>Swiss franc long positions fell for second straight week as of March 29th. Franc positions declined to a total of 18,957 net long contracts as of March 29th following a net of 21,301 long contracts on March 22nd.<\/p>\n

\"USDCHF,<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

CAD: <\/strong>The Canadian dollar positions turned higher after a decline for two consecutive weeks. CAD positions rose to a total\u00a0 of 51,245 contracts as of March 29th. CAD net contracts had declined to a total of 45,977 net long contracts as of March 22nd.<\/p>\n

\"USDCAD<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

AUD: <\/strong>The Australian dollar long positions jumped sharply higher last week to the highest level in over a year. AUD contracts totaled a net amount of 85,565 long contracts as of March 29th after AUD positions had totaled 51,734 net long contracts on March 22nd.<\/p>\n

\"AUDUSD,<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

NZD: <\/strong>New Zealand dollar futures positions edged slightly higher for a second consecutive week. NZD contracts increased to a total of 239 long positions as of March 29th from a total of 1,482 short contracts on March 22nd. NZD contracts had fallen for five consecutive weeks through March 15th.<\/p>\n

\"NZDUSD,<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

MXN: <\/strong>Mexican peso long contracts fell to almost unchanged from the previous week at a total of 88,075 net long contracts on March 29th. MXN positions had totaled 87,548 long contracts as of March 22nd. The MXN positions on March 15th had represented the highest level in over a year.<\/p>\n

\"MXN,<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

COT Data Summary as of March 29, 2011
\nLarge Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar<\/strong><\/p>\n

EUR: +56,630
\nGBP: +743
\nJPY: +7,052
\nCHF: +18,957
\nCAD: +51,245
\nAUD: +85,565
\nNZD: +239
\nMXN: +88,075<\/p>\n

Further COT Resources from around the web:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n