Speculators trim US dollar bets; longs lowest since November

San Francisco (Mar 16)  Speculators pared bullish bets on the US dollar for a fifth straight week, with net longs falling to their lowest in more than four months, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday. The value of the dollar's net long position dropped to $10.56 billion in the week ended March 11, from $11.60 billion the previous week. That was the smallest net long on the dollar since the week of November 5.

Last Friday's stronger-than-expected US non-farm payrolls report failed to lift sentiment on the greenback, which had previously been undermined by a string of soft economic data. Overall, however, investors have maintained net long positions on the dollar for 19 consecutive weeks. The last time speculators were short the greenback was in late October 2013.

The CFTC report also showed that there has been an influx into the safe-haven Swiss franc over the last week, with tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalating. Short-term investors have quadrupled their bets on the Swiss currency from last week's levels to 8,957 long contracts. The euro has proven resilient as well, notching longs of 36,385 contracts, from 23,452 the previous week. To be long a currency is a view it will rise, while being short is a bet its value will decline.

Source: Brecorder