By CountingPips.com
The latest Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that large futures speculators cut back on their US dollar long positions last week and Euro short positions improved for the first time in six weeks from their record low level.
Non-commercial futures traders, usually hedge funds and large speculators, decreased their total US dollar long positions to $14.22 billion on January 31st from a total long position of $20.09 billion on January 24th, according to the CFTC COT 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.
Individual Currencies:
EuroFX: Currency speculators decreased their Euro short positions for the first time in six weeks as of January 31st after raising their short bets to a new record high the previous week. Euro net short positions totaled 157,546 short bets against the euro currency from the previous week’s total of 171,347 net short contracts.
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: British pound sterling positions showed improvement for a second consecutive week and increased to their best level since December 20th. British pound positions saw a total of 26,214 short positions on January 31st following a total of 31,361 net short positions registered on January 24th, according to the CFTC data.
JPY: The Japanese yen net long speculative contracts reversed two consecutive weeks of declines, according to the latest data on January 31st. Yen long positions increased to a total of 56,669 net long contracts reported on January 31st following a total of 44,367 net long contracts that were reported on January 24th. Yen speculative positions are just below their highest level in over a year that was registered on January 10th when contracts surpassed the August 2nd level of 58,833 contracts.
CHF: Swiss franc speculators slightly trimmed their short bets against the Swiss currency for a second consecutive week as of January 31st. Speculator positions for the Swiss currency futures numbered a total of 11,222 net short contracts on January 31st following a total of 12,514 net short contracts as of January 24th. Swiss contracts have now been on the short side by more than 10,000 contracts for six consecutive weeks and positions have seen limited movements either way.
CAD: Canadian dollar positions slightly declined after improving the previous week for the first time in three weeks. Canadian dollar positions declined to a total of 19,409 net short contracts as of January 31st following a total of 18,909 short contracts reported on January 24th. CAD positions on January 17th had marked their lowest level in over a year and a total of 28,730 net short contracts.
AUD: The Australian dollar long positions continued higher for a sixth consecutive week as of January 31st. Australian dollar positions increased to a total net amount of 78,044 long contracts on January 31st after totaling 69,486 net long contracts reported as of January 24th. The AUD speculative positions are now at their highest level since July 26th when Australian dollar long positions totaled 81,438.
NZD: New Zealand dollar futures speculator positions rose higher and advanced for a sixth consecutive week through January 31st. NZD contracts increased to a total of 14,797 net long contracts as of January 31st following a total of 12,932 net long contracts on January 24th. NZD positions have now risen for six straight weeks from the December 20th low standing (which was the lowest position since March 29th when positions equaled 239 long contracts) and to the highest level since September 13th when net long contracts equaled 17,664.
MXN: Mexican peso speculative contracts improved for a fourth consecutive week and rose to the best position since August 23rd against the US dollar. Peso long positions numbered a total of 21,481 net long speculative positions as of January 31st following a total of 7,418 long contracts that were reported on January 24th. Peso contracts crossed over into a positive long position on January 24th for the first time since September 6th.
COT Currency Data Summary as of January 31, 2012
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar
EUR -157546
GBP -26214
JPY +56669
CHF -11222
CAD -19409
AUD +78044
NZD +14797
MXN +21481
Other COT Trading Resources:
Trading Forex Using the COT Report
