By CountingPips.com
The latest Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that futures speculators decreased their short positions of the US dollar against the other major currencies. Non-commercial futures positions, those taken by hedge funds and large speculators, were overall net short the US dollar by $23.2 billion against other major currencies as of February 15th. This is a decline from the total short position of $26.3 billion on February 8th, 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.
This week’s data saw some notable changes with Japanese yen positions turning negative for the first time since June while Canadian dollar and British pound sterling positions rose sharply.
EuroFx: Currency speculators trimmed their net long positions in the euro against the U.S. dollar for a second consecutive week. Futures positions in the euro fell to a total of 32,464 long positions as of February 15th following a total of 34,734 long positions on February 8th. 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 sharply increased their net long British pound sterling positions and long bets for the sterling rose for a fifth straight week as of February 15th to their highest position in over a year. Pound sterling contracts rose to a total of 52,572 long positions after totaling 24,475 long positions as of February 8th.
JPY: The Japanese yen net contracts decreased sharply as of February 15th to the lowest level since June 2010. Yen positions fell to a total of 18,548 short contracts. Yen positions had totaled 36,731 net long contracts reported on February 8th.
CHF: Swiss franc long positions rose back above 10,000 to a total of 10,518 long contracts as of February 15th. Franc contracts totaled a net of 8,181 long contracts on February 8th.
CAD: The Canadian dollar positions advanced sharply higher and increased for a third straight week to a total of 72,090 net long contracts. CAD long positions had registered 39,790 net longs on February 8th.
AUD: The Australian dollar long positions dipped after reaching their highest level since April last week. AUD contracts totaled a net amount of 65,514 long contracts as of February 15th after AUD positions had totaled 71,979 net long contracts on February 8th.
NZD: New Zealand dollar futures positions edged lower to a total of 9,810 long positions as of February 15th. NZD large speculator long positions had increased the previous week to a total of 10,857 long contracts on February 8th.
MXN: Mexican peso long contracts rose higher for a sixth consecutive week as of February 15th to 109,096 net long positions after totaling 103,812 longs the week prior on February 8th.
COT Data Summary as of February 15, 2011
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar
Euro: +32,464
British pound sterling: +52,572
Japanese yen: -18,548
Swiss franc: +10,518
Canadian dollar: +72,090
Australian dollar: +65,514
New Zealand dollar: +9,810
Mexican peso: +109,096
Further COT Resources from around the web:
