Weekly Commitment of Traders Data by CFTC shows which way Large Traders and Hedge Funds were leaning the previous week in the Futures Market
By CountingPips.com
The latest weekly Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that large futures traders slightly increased their total bullish bets of the US dollar last week against the other major foreign currencies. Total speculator positions have seen little movement in the past few months, as you can see from the chart above.
Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large International Monetary Market speculators, registered an overall US dollar long position of $25.18 billion as of Tuesday April 16th. This was a small increase from the total long position of $25 billion on April 9th, according to position calculations by Reuters (US dollar positions against the total positions of eurofx, British pound, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc).
Individual Currencies Large Speculators Positions in Futures:
The individual currency contracts quoted directly against the US dollar last week saw increases for the euro, British pound sterling, Swiss franc, Mexican peso and the New Zealand dollar while the Japanese yen, Australian dollar and the Canadian dollar all had a declining number of net contracts for the week.
Individual Currency Charts: (Please Click on Chart to Enlarge)
EuroFX: Weekly change of +21,094
EuroFX: Large trader positions for the euro advanced last week for second consecutive week. Euro contracts improved to a total net position of -29,764 contracts in the data reported for April 16th following the previous week’s total of -50,858 net contracts on April 9th.
This is a change of +21,094 contracts for the week compared to previous week’s change of +14,843.
British Pound Sterling: Weekly change of +7,994
GBP: British pound spec positions improved last week to its best level in about a month after falling to the lowest level of 2013 previously. British pound speculative positions rose last week to a total of -61,975 net contracts on April 16th following a total of -69,969 net contracts reported for April 9th.
This was a weekly change of +7,994 in large trader contracts following the previous week’s change of -4,949 contracts.
Japanese Yen: Weekly change of -15,714
JPY: Japanese yen net speculative contracts decreased last week to the lowest level since March 12th after rising for the previous two weeks. Japanese yen positions fell to a total of -93,411 net contracts on April 16th following a total of -77,697 net short contracts on April 9th.
This is a weekly change of -15,714 following the previous week’s change of +474 positions.
Swiss Franc: Weekly change of +6,761
CHF: Swiss franc speculator positions improved last week for a third consecutive week and to the best position since February. Net positions for the Swiss currency futures improved to a total of -3,253 contracts on April 16th following a total of -10,014 net contracts reported for April 9th.
This is a weekly change of +6,761 contracts following the previous week change of +2,001 contracts.
Canadian Dollar: Weekly change of -4,780
CAD: Canadian dollar positions continued to decline last week for a third straight week and to a new low level in 2013. Canadian dollar positions dropped to a total of -75,913 contracts as of April 16th following a total of -71,133 net contracts that were reported for April 9th.
This is a weekly change of -4,780 net contracts following a weekly change of -6,589 the previous week.
Australian Dollar: Weekly change of -24,704
AUD: The Australian dollar declined last week for a third consecutive week and to the lowest level since March 12th. Aussie speculative futures positions declined to a total net amount of +53,175 contracts on April 16th after totaling +77,879 net contracts as of April 9th.
This is a weekly change of -24,704 in net positions following the previous week’s -6,092 change.
New Zealand Dollar: Weekly change of +5,658
NZD: New Zealand dollar speculator positions jump last week to rise for a fourth consecutive week and to a new 2013 high level. NZD contracts rose to a total of +30,808 net long contracts as of April 16th following a total of +25,150 net long contracts on April 9th.
This is a weekly change of +5,658 following the previous week’s change of +6,763 net contracts.
Mexican Peso: Weekly change of +8,746
MXN: Mexican peso speculative contracts rose last week after dipping slightly the previous week. Peso positions rose to a total of +151,288 net speculative positions as of April 16th following a total of +142,542 contracts that were reported for April 9th.
This is a weekly change in net large peso speculator positions of +8,746 contracts following the previous change of -213 contracts.
Additional Macro Financial Markets:
10 Year Treasuries: Weekly change of +14,593
10 Year Notes: 10-Year Treasury Note speculative contracts advanced higher last week to rise for a fifth consecutive week. 10-Year positions increased to a total of +135,372 net speculative positions as of April 16th following a total of +120,779 contracts that were reported for April 9th.
This is a weekly change in net large speculator positions of +14,593 contracts following the previous week’s change of +10,087 contracts.
Crude Oil Light Sweet: Weekly change of -12,695
Crude Oil: Crude Oil speculative contracts decreased last week to fall for a second straight week after rising for the previous two weeks. Crude spec positions decreased to a total of +210,703 net speculative positions as of April 16th following a total of +223,398 contracts that were reported for April 9th.
This is a weekly change in net large speculator positions of -12,695 contracts after the previous weekly change of -25,452 contracts.
Gold Futures CMX: Weekly change of +9,523
Gold: Gold contracts rose last week to end a three week skid for speculative net positions. Gold futures positions increased to a total of +128,882 net speculative positions as of April 16th following a total of +119,359 contracts that were reported for April 9th.
This is a weekly change in net large speculator positions of +9,523 contracts following the previous week’s change of -847 contracts.
S&P 500 Index Futures: Weekly change of -5,592
S&P 500: S&P 500 speculative contracts decreased last week after advancing the previous two weeks. S&P 500 futures positions declined to a total of +1,239 net speculative positions as of April 16th following a total of +6,831 contracts that were reported for April 9th.
This is a weekly change in net large speculator positions of -5,592 contracts.
VIX Futures: Weekly change of -20,045
VIX: VIX speculative contracts declined last week to fall for a third week. VIX futures positions dropped to a total of -89,698 net speculative positions as of April 16th following a total of -69,653 contracts that were reported for April 9th.
This is a weekly change in net large speculator positions of -20,045 contracts following the previous week’s change of -1,380 contracts.
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.
Article by CountingPips.com – Forex News & Market Analysis
