By CountingPips.com
The latest Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday showed that futures speculators trimmed their euro short positions by close to 2,000 contracts, according to data by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Non-commercial futures positions, those taken by hedge funds and large speculators, were net short the euro against the U.S. dollar by -23,699 contracts as of September 7th. This is a decrease of 1,870 short contracts after speculators were net short the euro by -25,569 contracts on August 31st. The September 7th data reverses three straight weeks of increased short positions.
The COT report is published every Friday by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) 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. Open interest is the number of open contracts that have not been closed by a transaction or by delivery.
The euro and the British pound sterling were the only major currencies on the short side against the dollar last week in the CME futures market while the Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, Mexican peso and the Canadian dollar had a net long amount of contracts. Canadian dollar positions increased last week to have a total net long position after decreasing the previous week to level onto the short side.
The British pound sterling short positions rose to -16,068 as of September 7th after being short on August 31st by -15,266 positions. Pound sterling short positions have now increased for two straight weeks.
The Canadian dollar positions rose after declining for three consecutive weeks. Canadian dollar large speculators positions increased to 452 long contracts as of September 7th from a total of -4,764 positions the week prior.
The Japanese yen net long contracts edged higher last week to 52,183 from 49,904 net long contracts reported on August 31st. Yen positions have continued to stay around the +50,000 level for the past six weeks.
Swiss franc long positions increased for a fourth straight week to 16,627 long contracts as of September 7th after rising to 14,281 long contracts the week prior.
The Australian dollar futures positions increased to a net amount of 56,966 long contracts as of September 7th from 43,808 long contracts on August 31st. The gain in Aussie long speculative positions reverses a decline of two consecutive weeks.
New Zealand dollar futures positions also increased with 9,377 long contracts after a total of 6,957 long contracts as of August 31st. Kiwi positions had declined lower for four straight weeks before the September 7th data.
Mexican peso long contracts, meanwhile, dipped for a fourth consecutive week to 14,064 total long positions from 21,004 longs the week prior on August 31st.
COT Data Summary as of September 7th, 2010
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar
Euro: -23,699 short contracts from -25,569 shorts on August 31th
British pound sterling: -16,068 short contracts from -15,266 shorts
Australian dollar: 56,966 long contracts from 43,808 longs
Canadian dollar: 452 long contracts from -4,764 shorts
Japanese yen: 52,183 long contracts from 49,904 longs
Mexican peso: 14,064 long contracts from 21,004 longs
New Zealand dollar: 9,373 long contracts from 6,957 longs
Swiss franc: 16,627 long contracts from 14,281 longs
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