NEW YORK, Feb 3 Speculators reduced bullish bets
on the U.S. dollar for a fourth straight week, as net longs fell
to their lowest since late October, according to data from the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday and
calculations by Reuters.
The value of the dollar's net long position totaled $18.47
billion in the week ended Jan. 31, down from $20.04 billion the
previous week.
The U.S. currency has slumped this year, undermined by the
Trump administration's weak dollar rhetoric, driving its worst
January performance in three decades. This week was no exception
as the dollar continued to trend lower, posting its largest
weekly percentage fall in more than six months.
A smaller-than-expected rise in U.S. wage growth as seen in
Friday's U.S. non-farm payrolls report for January has dampened
the outlook for the dollar as well. The data
suggested that there was still some slack in the labor market
that would keep inflation in check, likely slowing the pace of
U.S. rate hikes by the Federal Reserve this year.
"The U.S. dollar is likely to be pressured further, as it
has been since the beginning of the year, as the promise of
accelerated Fed tightening fades for the time being," said James
Chen, head of research at Forex.com in Bedminster, New Jersey.
CFTC data also showed net short contracts on the Japanese
yen fell to 58,331, the lowest since early December.
The yen's moves, especially on Friday, have been mostly
dictated by the Bank of Japan's action. The BoJ on Friday
announced plans to buy an unlimited amount of 5-10 year Japanese
government bonds to "hit CPI target as soon as possible," said
BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda.
"The (Japanese) central bank's actions are negative for JGBs
and negative for the yen and will be a factor that helps keep
dollar/yen supported," said Kathy lien, managing director of FX
strategy at BK Asset Management in New York.
Net shorts on the Mexican peso, meanwhile, continued to fall
and in the latest week touched their lowest since late December.
The Mexican peso has been the most sensitive to U.S. President
Donald Trump's comments about immigration and trade policies,
falling to record lows against the dollar a few weeks ago.
The peso, however, has since recovered as investors bought
back the currency on the view that the worst was behind it. It
has been one of the best-performing currencies against the
dollar since Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, rising about 8
percent.
The Reuters calculation for the aggregate U.S. dollar
position is derived from net positions of International Monetary
Market speculators in the yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc
and Canadian and Australian dollars.
Japanese Yen (Contracts of 12,500,000 yen) $6.465 billion
Jan. 31, 2017 Prior week
week
Long 32,216 27,127
Short 90,547 93,967
Net -58,331 -66,840
EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros) $6.168 billion
Jan. 31, 2017 Prior week
week
Long 125,689 131,904
Short 171,402 184,252
Net -45,713 -52,348
POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling) $4.856
billion
Jan. 31, 2017 Prior week
week
Long 42,232 51,521
Short 104,004 114,693
Net -61,772 -63,172
SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs) $2.166 billion
Jan. 31, 2017 Prior week
week
Long 6,812 6,198
Short 23,952 19,842
Net -17,140 -13,644
CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars) $-0.267
billion
Jan. 31, 2017 Prior week
week
Long 44,939 36,175
Short 41,467 33,656
Net 3,472 2,519
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Aussie dollars) $-0.914
billion
Jan. 31, 2017 Prior week
week
Long 59,187 54,552
Short 47,131 44,258
Net 12,056 10,294
MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos) $1.517 billion
Jan. 31, 2017 Prior week
week
Long 26,000 32,133
Short 89,208 96,787
Net -63,208 -64,654
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 New Zealand dollars)
$0.075 billion
Jan. 31, 2017 Prior week
week
Long 32,712 25,851
Short 33,734 35,734
Net -1,022 -9,883
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Tom Brown)
Source:Reuters
