By CountingPips.com
The latest Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that futures speculators continued to add to their short positions of the US dollar against the other major currencies while increasing long positions in favor of the euro. Non-commercial futures positions, those taken by hedge funds and large speculators, were overall net short the US dollar by $24.9 billion against other major currencies as of February 1st. This is a rise from the total short position of $18.2 billion on January 25th, 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.
EuroFx: Currency speculators added to their net long positions in the euro against the U.S. dollar for third week in a row with a total of 39,934 long positions as of February 1st. This is a sharp turnaround for euro positions that were long by 22,901 contracts on January 25th and were short by 45,182 contracts as recently as January 11th. The graph below overlays the EUR/USD spot closing price of the Tuesday of COT trader positions reporting.
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.
GBP: Speculators increased their net long British pound sterling positions as of February 1st to their highest position since November 16th. Pound sterling contracts rose to a total of 22,659 long positions after totaling 7,888 long positions as of January 25th.
JPY: The Japanese yen net long contracts edged lower as of February 1st to a total of 31,481 long contracts. Yen positions had totaled 32,218 net long contracts reported on January 25th.
CHF: Swiss franc long positions increased after drifting lower for a three straight weeks to a total of 10,441 long contracts as of February 1st. Franc contracts totaled a net of 6,594 long contracts on January 25th.
CAD: The Canadian dollar positions edged higher to a total of 33,814 net long contracts after two straight weeks of declines. CAD long positions had registered 31,719 net longs on January 25th.
AUD: The Australian dollar long positions rose back higher from the previous week. AUD contracts totaled a net amount of 60,077 long contracts as of February 1st from 45,458 long contracts on January 25th.
NZD: New Zealand dollar futures positions rose to a total of 10,270 long positions as of February 1st. NZD large speculator long positions had fallen the previous week to a total of 8,627 long contracts on January 25th.
MXN: Mexican peso long contracts continued to rise for a fourth consecutive week as of February 1st to 103,117 net long positions after totaling 95,245 longs the week prior on January 25th.
COT Data Summary as of February 1, 2011
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar
Euro: +39,934
British pound sterling: +22,659
Japanese yen: +31,481
Swiss franc: +10,441
Canadian dollar: +33,814
Australian dollar: +60,077
New Zealand dollar: +10,270
Mexican peso: +103,117
Go to the Commitment of Traders CME raw futures data
Further COT Resources from around the web:
