Speculators’ net long bets on U.S. dollar rise; euro bears grow bolder

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Speculators’ net long bets on the U.S. dollar rose in the latest week, while net bearish bets on the euro grew to their largest level since November, according to calculations by Reuters and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.

The value of the net long dollar position was $15.59 billion for the week ended July 5. Last week, speculators’ net long position stood at $13.65 billion.

U.S. dollar positioning was derived from net contracts of International Monetary Market speculators in the Japanese yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc, and Canadian and Australian dollars.

The U.S. dollar has risen about 12% against a basket of currencies this year, helped by a hawkish Federal Reserve and heightened geopolitical tensions that have boosted the greenback’s safe-haven appeal.

On Friday, the dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies following a choppy session, after data showed the U.S. economy created more jobs than expected in June.

Speculators’ net short position on the euro rose to 16,852 contracts in the latest week, up from a net short position of 10,596 contracts. That was the most bearish positioning on the euro since November 2021.

The euro slipped to a fresh two-decade low against the greenback on Friday amid worries over the euro zone economy tipping into recession.

JAPANESE YEN (Contracts of 12,500,000 yen)

$5.009 billion

05 Jul 2022 Prior week

week

Long 38,660 36,462

Short 93,105 89,032

Net -54,445 -52,570

EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros)

$2.163 billion

05 Jul 2022 Prior week

week

Long 197,138 189,414

Short 213,990 200,010

Net -16,852 -10,596

POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling)

$4.2 billion

05 Jul 2022 Prior week

week

Long 39,618 35,184

Short 95,826 88,302

Net -56,208 -53,118

SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs)

$1.308 billion

05 Jul 2022 Prior week

week

Long 3,218 4,523

Short 13,353 13,114

Net -10,135 -8,591

CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars)

$-0.329 billion

05 Jul 2022 Prior week

week

Long 45,365 45,893

Short 41,072 36,796

Net 4,293 9,097

AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Aussie dollars)

$3.239 billion

05 Jul 2022 Prior week

week

Long 27,622 28,887

Short 75,243 71,867

Net -47,621 -42,980

MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos)

$0.351 billion

05 Jul 2022 Prior week

week

Long 107,141 107,031

Short 121,559 121,011

Net -14,418 -13,980

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

$0.435 billion

05 Jul 2022 Prior week

week

Long 13,634 11,720

Short 20,690 17,031

Net -7,056 -5,311

(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in New YorkEditing by Leslie Adler and Matthew Lewis)