By CountingPips.com
The latest Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that futures speculators added to their short positions of the US dollar against the other major currencies while increasing long positions in favor of the euro. Non-commercial futures positions, those taken by hedge funds and large speculators, were overall net short the US dollar by $18.2 billion against other major currencies as of January 25th. This is a rise from the total short position of $15.06 billion on January 18th, according to the CFTC data and calculations by Reuters which calculates the dollar positions against the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc.
EuroFx: Currency speculators added to their net long positions in the euro against the U.S. dollar with a total of 22,901 long positions as of January 25th. This is a sharp turnaround for euro positions that were long by 4,109 contracts on January 18th and were short by 45,182 contracts on January 11th.
The COT report is published every Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows futures positions as of the previous Tuesday. It can be a useful tool for traders to gauge investor sentiment and to look for potential changes in the direction of a currency or commodity. Each currency contract is a quote for that currency directly against the U.S. dollar, where as a net short amount of contracts means that more speculators are betting that currency to fall against the dollar and net long position expect that currency to rise versus the dollar.
GBP: Speculators increased their net long British pound sterling positions as of January 25th after turning to net long positions last week. Pound sterling contracts rose to a total of 7,888 long positions after totaling 5,794 long positions as of January 18th.
JPY: The Japanese yen net long contracts rose after two declining weeks as of January 25th to a total of 32,218 long contracts. Yen positions had totaled 20,529 net long contracts reported on January 18th.
CHF: Swiss franc long positions edged lower for a third straight week to a total of 6,594 long contracts as of January 25th after totaling a net of 6,992 long contracts on January 18th. This marks the lowest level in Swiss franc long positions since July 27th, 2010.
CAD: The Canadian dollar positions decreased lower for second consecutive week. CAD long positions registered 31,719 contracts after totaling 44,055 net longs on January 18th.
AUD: The Australian dollar long positions dropped lower from the previous week. AUD contracts totaled a net amount of 45,458 long contracts as of January 25th from 53,508 long contracts on January 18th.
NZD: New Zealand dollar futures positions decreased to a total of 8,627 long positions as of January 25th. NZD large speculator long positions had advanced the previous week to a total of 11,247 long contracts on January 18th.
MXN: Mexican peso long contracts continued to rise for a third consecutive week as of January 25th to 95,245 net long positions after totaling 90,202 longs the week prior on January 18th.
COT Data Summary as of January 25th, 2011
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar
Euro: +22,901
British pound sterling: +7,888
Japanese yen: +32,218
Swiss franc: +6,594
Canadian dollar: +31,719
Australian dollar: +45,458
New Zealand dollar: +8,627
Mexican peso: +95,245
Go to the Commitment of Traders CME raw futures data
Further COT Resources from around the web:
