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 trimmed their long bets of the US dollar last week, according to the latest data which shows trader positions as of December 6th. US dollar positions fell against the euro one week after speculators had increased their bearish bets against the euro to the highest level since June 2010. Speculators continued to be overall bullish in favor of the US dollar despite last week’s pullback.
Non-commercial futures traders, usually hedge funds and large speculators, decreased their short positions in the euro, British pound sterling, Canadian dollar and Mexican peso while increasing long positions in the Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar. Japanese yen long positions edged lower while traders added to short positions in the Swiss franc.
EuroFX: Currency speculators reversed three consecutive weeks of declining positions as short positions were trimmed for the euro, according to data on December 6th. Euro short positions declined to a total of 95,814 net contracts from the previous week’s total of 104,302 net short contracts. The November 29th short position was a new low level for euro positions all year and the highest short level since June 8th of 2010 when euro short positions totaled 111,945.
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: Currency speculators decreased their bearish bets of the British pound sterling as of December 6th after increasing bearish bets for three consecutive weeks. British pound positions stood at a total of 43,560 short positions on December 6th following a total of 46,660 net short positions registered on November 29th.
JPY: The Japanese yen net long speculative contracts fell slightly for a second consecutive week as of December 6th. Yen long positions declined to a total of 38,271 net long contracts reported on December 6th following a total of 40,547 net long contracts that were reported on November 29th.
CHF: Swiss franc positions fell lower for a fourth consecutive week and to a new low level all year against the dollar last week. Speculator positions for the Swiss currency futures edged down to a total of 11,158 net short contracts on December 6th following a total of 9,327 net short contracts as of November 29th. The Swiss currency has been moving in small and tight ranges in forex trading since the Swiss National Bank implemented a policy to weaken the strength of the currency which the SNB feels is overvalued.
CAD: Canadian dollar positions edged higher after declining for four consecutive weeks. CAD net contracts improved to a total of 20,171 net short contracts as of December 6th following a total of 26,869 short contracts reported on November 29th. CAD positions on November 29th were at their lowest level of the year, surpassing the previous low that was reached on October 11th when net short positions fell to 24,913.
AUD: The Australian dollar long positions surged higher and reversed three consecutive weekly declines as of December 6th. Australian dollar positions rose to a total net amount of 29,824 long contracts following a total of 12,542 net long contracts reported as of November 29th. The AUD speculative positions last week ascended to their highest level since September 13th when Australian dollar long positions totaled 36,934.
NZD: New Zealand dollar futures speculator positions edged just slightly higher last week after falling for the previous three straight weeks. NZD contracts edged up to a total of 3,857 net long contracts as of December 6th following a total of 3,718 net long contracts registered the previous week. The November 29th level had represented the lowest New Zealand dollar position level since April 5th when positions equaled 2,695 long contracts.
MXN: Mexican peso contracts rose last week after declines for two consecutive weeks that brought Mexican peso positions to a new low level for the year. Peso positions improved to a total of 20,862 net short speculative positions as of December 6th following a total of 36,240 short contracts that were reported on November 29th.
COT Currency Data Summary as of December 6, 2011
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar
EUR -95,814
GBP -43,560
JPY +38,271
CHF -11,158
CAD -20,171
AUD +29,824
NZD +3,857
MXN -20,862
