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 to the highest short position in four months. Non-commercial futures positions, those taken by hedge funds and large speculators, were overall net short the US dollar by $26.3 billion against other major currencies as of February 8th. This is a rise from the total short position of $24.9 billion on February 1st, 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. Short dollar positions are now at their highest level since October 5, 2010 when shorts totaled $30.5 billion.
EuroFx: Currency speculators trimmed their net long positions in the euro against the U.S. dollar after three weeks of gains. Futures positions in the euro fell to a total of 34,734 long positions as of February 8th following a total of 39,934 long positions on February 1st. The graph below overlays the EUR/USD spot closing price of the Tuesday when COT trader positions are reported.
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. The graphs overlay the forex spot closing price of each Tuesday when COT trader positions are reported for each corresponding spot currency pair .
GBP: Speculators increased their net long British pound sterling positions for a fifth straight week as of February 8th to their highest position since November 16th. Pound sterling contracts rose to a total of 24,475 long positions after totaling 22,659 long positions as of February 1st.
JPY: The Japanese yen net long contracts increased higher as of February 8th to a total of 36,731 long contracts. Yen positions had totaled 31,481 net long contracts reported on February 1st.
CHF: Swiss franc long positions declined to a total of 8,181 long contracts as of February 8th. Franc contracts totaled a net of 10,441 long contracts on February 1st.
CAD: The Canadian dollar positions advanced higher for second straight week to a total of 39,790 net long contracts. CAD long positions had registered 33,814 net longs on February 1st.
AUD: The Australian dollar long positions rose to their highest level since April with AUD contracts totaling a net amount of 71,979 long contracts as of February 8th. AUD positions had totaled 60,077 net long contracts on February 1st.
NZD: New Zealand dollar futures positions rose for a second straight week to a total of 10,857 long positions as of February 8th. NZD large speculator long positions had increased the previous week to a total of 10,270 long contracts on February 1st.
MXN: Mexican peso long contracts edged higher for a fifth consecutive week as of February 8th to 103,812 net long positions after totaling 103,117 longs the week prior on February 1st.
COT Data Summary as of February 8, 2011
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar
Euro: +34,734
British pound sterling: +24,475
Japanese yen: +36,731
Swiss franc: +8,181
Canadian dollar: +39,790
Australian dollar: +71,979
New Zealand dollar: +10,857
Mexican peso: +103,812
Go to the Commitment of Traders CME raw futures data
Further COT Resources from around the web:
