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 sharply trimmed their overall US dollar long positions last week for a second consecutive week as traders boosted positions in the Australian dollar, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar and New Zealand dollar while also cutting euro short positions.
Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large speculators, decreased their total US dollar long positions to $13.65 billion on July 31st from a total long position of $20.44 billion on July 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 speculator sentiment for the euro improved for a second consecutive week last week and reached its best level since May. Euro net short positions or bets against the currency fell to 138,994 contracts on July 31st from the previous week’s total of 155,066 net short contracts on July 24th. The latest data shows that euro short positions are at their best level since May 1 when short positions equaled 106,990 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, 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.)
GBP: British pound sterling positions improved slightly for a third consecutive week last week. British pound sterling speculative positions totaled 1,810 net short contracts on July 31st following a total of 2,934 net short contracts on July 24th. Although the currency has improved for three weeks straight, it remains bearish on the negative side against the US Dollar.
JPY: Japanese yen speculative contracts continued to rise and gained for a fourth consecutive week last week. Yen positions rose higher to a total of 32,254 net long contracts reported on July 31st following a total of 25,061 net long contracts on July 24th. Japanese positions have now continued to be positive on the long side for nine consecutive weeks and is at the highest level since February 6th when long positions equaled 55,171 contracts.
CHF: Swiss franc speculator positions rebounded last week after declining for two consecutive weeks and falling to its lowest level since June 12th. Speculator positions for the Swiss currency futures registered a total of 18,808 net short contracts on July 31st following a total of 25,945 net short contracts as of July 24th.
CAD: Canadian dollar positions rebounded after declining for four consecutive weeks that brought the Canadian currency sentiment to the lowest level since January. Canadian dollar positions rose to a total of 12,449 net long contracts as of July 31st following a total of 2,432 net short contracts that were reported for July 24th. Increased sentiment brings the Canadian currency to its highest level since June 5th when long positions equaled 14,906 contracts.
AUD: The Australian dollar positions rose sharply higher again last week and brought Aussie sentiment to its highest level since May 1st. Aussie speculative futures positions advanced to a total net amount of 37,235 long contracts on July 31st after totaling 26,443 net long contracts as of July 24th. The improvement in Aussie contracts pushed positions to their highest level since May 1st when long contracts equaled 52,280.
NZD: New Zealand dollar futures speculator positions increased for an eighth straight week and are at the highest level since the middle of April. NZD contracts increased to a total of 10,347 net long contracts as of July 31st following a total of 7,779 net long contracts on July 24th. The kiwi contracts are now at their highest level since April 16th when contracts equaled 11,939 long positions.
MXN: Mexican peso speculative contracts dipped slightly after surging higher for seven consecutive weeks. Peso positions declined to a total of 47,556 net long speculative positions as of July 31st following a total of 49,662 long contracts that were reported for July 24th.
COT Currency Data Summary as of July 31, 2012
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar
EUR -138994
GBP -1810
JPY +32254
CHF -18808
CAD +12449
AUD +37235
NZD +10347
MXN +47556
