Currency Trading Speculators boosted US Dollar bullish bets higher last week

(Before It's News)

By CountingPips.com

US Dollar net speculator positions pushed back up to over $44 billion

The latest data for the weekly Commitment of Traders (COT) report, released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday, showed that large traders and currency speculators raised their net bullish positions for the US dollar last week to the highest level in a month.

Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large speculators, had an overall US dollar long position totaling $44.31 billion as of Tuesday March 10th, according to the latest data from the CFTC and dollar amount calculations by Reuters. This was a weekly change of +$3.46 billion from the $40.85 billion total long position that was registered on March 3rd, according to the Reuters calculation that totals the US dollar contracts against the combined contracts of the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc.

The latest data brings the US dollar speculative level to its highest standing since February 10th when the total bullish position was $44.51 billion. The USD position remains strongly bullish above the +$40 billion mark for an eleventh straight week and continues to maintain an overall net bullish position against all the other major currencies.

Overall Speculative Net US Dollar Contracts

In terms of total net speculative contracts, overall US dollar contracts jumped higher last week for the first time in five weeks to a total of +435,439 contracts as of Tuesday March 10th. This was a weekly change of +32,377 contracts from the total of +403,062 contracts as of Tuesday March 3rd. This total US dollar contracts calculation takes into account more currencies than the Reuters dollar amount total and is derived by adding the sum of each individual currencies net position versus the dollar. Currency contracts used in the calculation are the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and the Mexican peso.

Major Currency Weekly Levels & Changes: One Sided – All currencies continue to remain net bearish versus the USD

Weekly changes for the major currencies showed that large speculators increased their bets in favor of only the Mexican Peso on the week while decreasing weekly bets for the euro, British pound sterling, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar.

This latest COT data is through Tuesday March 10th and shows a quick view of how large speculators and for-profit traders (non-commercials) were positioned in the futures markets. All currency positions are in direct relation to the US dollar where, for example, a bet for the euro is a bet that the euro will rise versus the dollar while a bet against the euro will be a bet that the dollar will gain versus the euro.

Please see the individual currency charts and their respective data points below.

EuroFX:

Last Six Weeks data for EuroFX futures

British Pound Sterling:

Last Six Weeks data for Pound Sterling futures

Japanese Yen:

Last Six Weeks data for Yen Futures

Swiss Franc:

Last Six Weeks data for Franc futures

Canadian Dollar:

Last Six Weeks data for Canadian dollar futures

Australian Dollar:

Last Six Weeks data for Australian dollar futures

New Zealand Dollar:

Last Six Weeks data for New Zealand dollar futures

Mexican Peso:

Last Six Weeks data for Mexican Peso futures

*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators).

The Commitment of Traders report is published every Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows futures positions data that was reported as of the previous Tuesday (3 days behind).

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.) See more information and explanation on the weekly COT report from the CFTC website.

All information contained in this article cannot be guaranteed to be accurate and is used at your own risk. All information and opinions on this website are for general informational purposes only and do not in any way constitute investment advice.

Article by CountingPips.com – Forex Apps & News

• 10-Year Treasury Note Speculators virtually unchanged last week as yield edges up
• Crude Oil Speculators net bullish positions decline for a 3rd straight week
• Gold Speculators bullish positions fall sharply, decline for a 6th week
• Best Sterling Euro exchange rates since 2007 (Tom Holian)
• Best Exchange Rates for Sterling vs Euro since credit crunch (Tom Holian)
• Bank of England Governor Mark Carney weakens Sterling!! (Dayle Littlejohn)
• Watch out for the budget
• Cables Friday the 13th Bear
• EURJPY 60 Minute Chart London Open Trade Set Up !!
• GBP-EUR Rates – 1.40 barrier likely to be broken today