U.S. dollar net long position grows in week-CFTC, Reuters

NEW YORK, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Speculators raised their

bullish bets on the U.S. dollar in the latest week, as the

greenback extended its winning weekly streak against a basket of

currencies, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading

Commission released on Friday.

The value of the dollar's net long position rose to $35.81

billion in the week ended Sept. 23 from $31.42 billion the

previous week.

This was the highest net long level in the greenback in

three weeks when it set a 15-month peak.

The dollar index ended up 0.51 percent on Friday at

85.632, putting it on track for its 11th consecutive week of

gains and for the longest such streak since its 1971 free float

under President Richard Nixon.

To be long a currency is to take a view it will rise, while

being short is a bet its value will decline.

Net shorts on the euro and yen grew again, signaling the

optimistic outlook on the dollar as traders speculate on the

timing of an interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve due

to an improving domestic economy.

The Reuters calculation for the aggregate U.S. dollar position

is derived from net positions of International Monetary

speculators in the yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc and

Canadian and Australian dollars.

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

Net long dollar by $12.103 billion

23Sep2014 week Prior week

Long 28,391 37,617

Short 133,813 120,799

Net -105,422 -83,182

EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros)

Net long dollar by $22.794 billion

23Sep2014 week Prior week

Long 60,654 79,552

Short 202,619 216,701

Net -141,965 -137,149

POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling)

Net long dollar by $0.108 billion

23Sep2014 week Prior week

Long 53,691 55,617

Short 54,741 62,198

Net -1,050 -6,581

SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs)

Net long dollar by $1.779 billion

23Sep2014 week Prior week

Long 8,354 12,889

Short 21,729 24,285

Net -13,375 -11,396

CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars)

Net short dollar by $0.277 billion

23Sep2014 week Prior week

Long 27,673 37,347

Short 24,609 29,803

Net 3,064 7,544

AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Aussie dollars)

Net short dollar by $0.738 billion

23Sep2014 week Prior week

Long 47,187 55,588

Short 38,840 33,448

Net 8,347 22,140

MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos)

Net short dollar by $0.394 billion

23Sep2014 week Prior week

Long 58,278 69,430

Short 47,774 47,384

Net 10,504 22,046

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

Net short dollar by $0.148 billion

23Sep2014 week Prior week

Long 9,779 9,814

Short 7,938 8,694

Net 1,841 1,120

(Reporting by Richard Leong, Michael Connor and Gertrude

Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Diane Craft)