Dollar net longs at 7-wk low; pound shorts at all-time high again-CFTC, Reuters

(Adds table, comment, details on dollar, yen net longs,

sterling net short contracts)

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

Aug 26 (Reuters) - Speculators pared favorable bets on the

U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . dollar for a fourth straight week, shaving net longs to

their lowest in seven weeks, as investors remained uncertain on

whether the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates this

year.

The value of the dollar's net long position fell to $6.34

billion in the week ended Aug. 23 from $9.81 billion the

previous week, according to Reuters calculations and data from

the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday.

This week's net long position was the smallest since early July.

Investors continued to grapple with the Fed's tightening

time line, as they pored over U.S. data and parsed every comment

from U.S. central bank officials on clues as to when rates might

rise.

For the last few weeks, the dollar has been trading weaker

as U.S. data came out mostly mixed, even as most Fed speakers

flagged a rate hike at least once this year going into Friday's

speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen.

Even (Taiwan OTC: 6436.TWO - news) while Yellen and Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer

tag-teamed on Friday to signal that rates could rise again this

year, some dollar bulls remained unconvinced.

"Certainly, the discussion about raising rates offers an

initial, hawkish hue to her speech, but the broader implication

that the Fed's cyclical peak in rates will be lower than

previously anticipated - real neutral rate is near zero and

inflation won't reach 2.0 percent for a few years - has hurt the

U.S. dollar," said Christopher Vecchio, currency analyst at

DailyFX.com in New York.

So far this year, the dollar index has fallen more

than 3 percent, down from 2015's gains of more than 9 percent

Sterling net short positions, meanwhile, edged up to 94,978

contracts, another record high, the data showed. The pound's net

short position has hit record highs for six straight weeks.

The UK currency has been buffeted by actions of the Bank of

England a few weeks ago when it cut interest rates and restarted

bond purchases in a move to mitigate the impact of Britain's

vote to exit the European Union.

Since Britain's vote on June 23, the pound has fallen nearly

12 percent against the dollar.

Data also showed that speculators raised net long positions

on the yen to 60,316 contracts, their highest since early July.

BNY Mellon's data showed that the yen has been the

most bought G10 currency over the last two weeks. The bank said

yen inflows this month were five times stronger than the average

flows for the Japanese currency in the past year.

The Reuters calculation for the aggregate U.S. dollar

position is derived from net positions of International Monetary

Market speculators in the yen, euro, sterling, Swiss franc and

Canadian and Australian dollars.

Japanese Yen (Contracts of 12,500,000 yen)

$-7.522 billion

23 Aug Prior week

2016

week

Long 90,387 88,273

Short 30,071 32,267

Net (LSE: 0LN0.L - news) 60,316 56,006

EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros)

$10.831 billion

23 Aug Prior week

2016

week

Long 105,374 103,060

Short 182,032 195,568

Net -76,658 -92,508

POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling)

$7.83 billion

23 Aug Prior week

2016

week

Long 35,850 35,890

Short 130,828 130,128

Net -94,978 -94,238

SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs)

$-0.245 billion

23 Aug Prior week

2016

week

Long 20,921 19,996

Short 19,036 21,541

Net 1,885 -1,545

CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars)

$-1.296 billion

23 Aug Prior week

2016

week

Long 50,097 46,118

Short 33,363 33,645

Net 16,734 12,473

AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Aussie dollars)

$-3.256 billion

23 Aug Prior week

2016

week

Long 71,011 68,945

Short 28,254 27,832

Net 42,757 41,113

MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos)

$0.769 billion

23 Aug Prior week

2016

week

Long 26,845 24,542

Short 55,386 70,265

Net -28,541 -45,723

NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 New Zealand dollars)

$0.064 billion

23 Aug Prior week

2016

week

Long 29,926 28,980

Short 30,804 29,675

Net -878 -695

(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Meredith (Stuttgart: MEZ.SG - news)

Mazzilli and James Dalgleish)