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Dollar net longs rise; sterling shorts surge to 3-year high-CFTC
(Adds table, comment, details on dollar, euro, sterling, yen
contracts)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
July 22 (Reuters) - Speculators boosted their net long U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) .
dollar position this week, to the highest since early June, as
investors were encouraged by a spate of strong U.S. economic
data that reinforces expectations of at least one interest rate
hike in 2016.
The value of the dollar's net long position increased to
$10.42 billion in the week ended July 19 from $8.01 billion the
previous week, according to Reuters calculations and data from
the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday.
Dollar net longs rose for a third straight week. Since the
release of the strong U.S. nonfarm payrolls number on July 8,
the dollar has gained nearly 2 percent.
"We have witnessed nine consecutive days of dollar buying
per our iFlow U.S. dollar FX indicator," said Samarjit Shankar,
head of iFlow and quant strategies at BNY Mellon in Boston.
"Whether this is sustained remains to be seen, but it is
clear that the dollar's fortunes will have a major impact on
central bank policies globally."
Speculators also raised sterling net shorts to 74,386
contracts in the latest week, the highest since June 2013, data
showed.
The British pound has been hammered since the country's
shock vote a month ago to exit the European Union. A slew of
downbeat data such as the drop in manufacturing activity has
weighed on sterling, prompting expectations of further easing.
Money markets now show markets pricing in chances of at
least two rate cuts over the next six months.
Sterling fell 8 percent against the dollar in June and so
far in July, the pound has lost another 1.6 percent.
Speculators, meanwhile, remained bearish on the euro,
boosting net short contracts to 99,891. That's the largest short
position on the euro since January.
Sentiment on the yen has also dipped a little bit, with long
contracts falling a little bit to 39,353, the smallest since
early June.
BNY's Shankar said the bank has seen yen net selling for
eight straight days.
The Bank of Japan holds a monetary policy meeting next week
and Shankar thinks the central bank will hold the "status quo"
for now.
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)
$-5.677 billion
19 Jul 2016 Prior week
week
Long 79,864 85,364
Short 40,511 37,819
Net (LSE: 0LN0.L - news) 39,353 47,545
EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros)
$12.116 billion
19 Jul 2016 Prior week
week
Long 111,578 107,635
Short 211,469 195,295
Net -99,891 -87,660
POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling)
$4.971 billion
19 Jul 2016 Prior week
week
Long 27,959 39,999
Short 102,345 100,066
Net -74,386 -60,067
SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs)
$-0.849 billion
19 Jul 2016 Prior week
week
Long 23,191 23,330
Short 18,504 16,612
Net 4,687 6,718
CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars)
$-1.317 billion
19 Jul 2016 Prior week
week
Long 43,086 39,963
Short 21,018 22,788
Net 22,068 17,175
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Aussie dollars)
$-1.236 billion
19 Jul 2016 Prior week
week
Long 61,642 45,938
Short 28,211 29,722
Net 33,431 16,216
MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos)
$1.014 billion
19 Jul 2016 Prior week
week
Long 24,675 28,648
Short 64,041 65,820
Net -39,366 -37,172
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 New Zealand dollars)
$-0.074 billion
19 Jul 2016 Prior week
week
Long 29,156 31,694
Short 26,983 30,683
Net 2,173 1,011
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by James
Dalgleish)
