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Currency Speculators Pulled Back Sharply On USD Bullish Positions

Published 06/19/2016, 03:21 AM
Updated 07/09/2023, 06:31 AM

Weekly Large Trader COT Report: Currencies
US Dollar: COT Large Speculators Sentiment vs UUP ETF

US dollar net speculator positions declined last week to +$2.72 billion

The latest data for the weekly Commitment of Traders (COT) report, released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday, showed that large traders and currency speculators sharply decreased their bullish bets in favor of the US dollar last week although overall dollar positions remained in bullish territory for a fourth week.

Non-commercial large futures traders, including hedge funds and large speculators, had an overall US dollar long position totaling +$2.72 billion as of Tuesday June 14th, according to the latest data from the CFTC and dollar amount calculations by Reuters. This was a weekly change of -$8.58 billion from the +$11.30 billion total short position that was registered on June 7th, according to the Reuters calculation that totals the US dollar contracts against the combined contracts of the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc.

Last’s week decline reversed the trend for the dollar position that saw gains in each of the previous five weeks and had brought the dollar back into positive territory.

Weekly Speculator Contract Changes:

Last week’s data showed that the currencies to improve against the US dollar were the British pound sterling (+29,638 weekly change in contracts), Japanese yen (+12,837 contracts), Swiss franc (+16,775 contracts), euro (+10,623 contracts) and the Australian dollar (+9,030 contracts).

The pound sterling rebounded from a deep selloff the previous week and will likely remain highly volatile with the Brexit referendum coming up on June 23rd. The yen gained for a second week after falling for the previous six weeks while the Swiss franc rose for the first time in five weeks.

Currencies whose speculative net positions declined last week were led by the New Zealand dollar (-12,354 weekly change in contracts) and also included the Mexican peso (-6,310 contracts) and the Canadian dollar (-3,097 contracts).

Weekly Spec Changes-COT-2

This latest COT data is through Tuesday June 14th and shows a quick view of how large speculators or non-commercials (for-profit traders) as well as the commercial traders (hedgers & traders for business purposes) were positioned in the futures markets. All currency positions are in direct relation to the US dollar where, for example, a bet for the euro is a bet that the euro will rise versus the dollar while a bet against the euro will be a bet that the dollar will gain versus the euro.

Please see the individual currency charts and their respective data points below. (Click on Charts to Enlarge)

Weekly Charts: Large Trader Weekly Positions vs Price

EuroFX:

EuroFX Futures: COT Large Speculators Sentiment vs EUR/USD

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

date Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20160510 29484 1926 -21872 1747
20160517 34116 4632 -22587 -715
20160524 48501 14385 -37895 -15308
20160531 50714 2213 -37654 241
20160607 79538 28824 -67112 -29458
20160614 70705 -8833 -56489 10623

British Pound Sterling:

British Pound: COT Large Speculators Sentiment vs GBP/USD

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

date Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20160510 55022 -1856 -34935 5473
20160517 60935 5913 -38422 -3487
20160524 54031 -6904 -32835 5587
20160531 51984 -2047 -32851 -16
20160607 84439 32455 -66299 -33448
20160614 58611 -25828 -36661 29638

Japanese Yen:

Japanese Yen: COT Large Speculators Sentiment vs FXY ETF

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

date Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20160510 -63294 2201 59047 -2474
20160517 -62439 855 58919 -128
20160524 -23035 39404 22059 -36860
20160531 -13526 9509 14837 -7222
20160607 -43861 -30335 42853 28016
20160614 -57384 -13523 55690 12837

Swiss Franc:

Swiss Franc: COT Large Speculators Sentiment vs FXF ETF

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

date Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20160510 -978 3892 6917 88
20160517 4440 5418 4147 -2770
20160524 11498 7058 3954 -193
20160531 13820 2322 129 -3825
20160607 22145 8325 -9645 -9774
20160614 2031 -20114 7130 16775

Canadian Dollar:

Canadian Dollar:COT Large Speculators Sentiment vs FXC ETF

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

date Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20160510 -33890 -3145 25874 6931
20160517 -33527 363 22706 -3168
20160524 -25595 7932 20047 -2659
20160531 -30322 -4727 26259 6212
20160607 -29402 920 21537 -4722
20160614 -40910 -11508 18440 -3097

Australian Dollar:

Australian Dollar: COT Large Speculators Sentiment vs AUD/USD

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

date Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20160510 -42718 15859 38158 -14237
20160517 -26088 16630 24893 -13265
20160524 -605 25483 124 -24769
20160531 8618 9223 -4758 -4882
20160607 19482 10864 -15808 -11050
20160614 9618 -9864 -6778 9030

New Zealand Dollar:

New Zealand Dollar: COT Large Speculators Sentiment vs NZD/USD

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

date Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20160510 -9689 854 9352 152
20160517 -6825 2864 6688 -2664
20160524 -4184 2641 4576 -2112
20160531 -5439 -1255 5504 928
20160607 -9944 -4505 8536 3032
20160614 1538 11482 -3818 -12354

Mexican Peso:

Mexican Peso: COT Large Speculators Sentiment vs MXN/USD

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

date Net Commercial Positions Weekly Com Changes Net Large Specs Positions Weekly Spec Changes
20160510 47903 35353 -45220 -32800
20160517 48932 1029 -45691 -471
20160524 50128 1196 -47460 -1769
20160531 58047 7919 -55615 -8155
20160607 61854 3807 -59309 -3694
20160614 69064 7210 -65619 -6310

*COT Report: The weekly commitment of traders report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators). Find CFTC criteria here: (http://www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/CommitmentsofTraders/ExplanatoryNotes/index.htm).

The Commitment of Traders report is published every Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows futures positions data that was reported as of the previous Tuesday (3 days behind).

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 charts overlay the forex closing price of each Tuesday when COT trader positions are reported for each corresponding spot currency pair.) See more information and explanation on the weekly COT report from the CFTC website.

All information contained in this article cannot be guaranteed to be accurate and is used at your own risk. All information and opinions on this website are for general informational purposes only and do not in any way constitute investment advice.

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