U.S. dollar net long bets slip, bitcoin futures surge-CFTC, Reuters data

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Speculators’ net long positioning on the U.S. dollar slipped, after hitting their highest level since late November in the previous week, according to calculations by Reuters and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.

The value of the net long dollar position drifted lower to $19.75 billion in the week ended May 17, from $19.82 billion the previous week.

The dollar has been underpinned overall in recent months by safe-haven bids amid soaring inflation, a hawkish Federal Reserve and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

That rally, however, fizzled this week due to increased volatility in global financial markets after the lofty levels the dollar had scaled in recent months.

Bitcoin futures, on the other hand, posted their largest net long position since the contract was launched in 2018.

For the week of May 17, net longs in bitcoin rose to 806 contracts, compared with net longs of 703 contracts the previous week, CFTC data showed.

Bitcoin BTC=BTSP, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, last fell 3.6% to $29,203, not far from a December 2020 low of $25,400 it hit a few weeks ago.

Japanese Yen (Contracts of 12,500,000 yen)

$9.884 billion

17 May 2022 Prior week

week

Long 12,113 11,196

Short 114,422 121,650

Net -102,309 -110,454

EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros)

$-2.681 billion

17 May 2022 Prior week

week

Long 230,770 228,230

Short 210,431 211,701

Net 20,339 16,529

POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling)

$6.186 billion

17 May 2022 Prior week

week

Long 26,613 29,469

Short 105,854 109,067

Net -79,241 -79,598

SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs)

$2.088 billion

17 May 2022 Prior week

week

Long 5,240 4,727

Short 21,832 20,490

Net -16,592 -15,763

CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars)

$1.132 billion

17 May 2022 Prior week

week

Long 36,069 38,679

Short 50,565 44,086

Net -14,496 -5,407

AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Aussie dollars)

$3.138 billion

17 May 2022 Prior week

week

Long 41,473 36,869

Short 86,115 78,583

Net -44,642 -41,714

MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos)

$-0.708 billion

17 May 2022 Prior week

week

Long 77,819 63,921

Short 49,604 47,196

Net 28,215 16,725

NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 New Zealand dollars)

$1.13 billion

17 May 2022 Prior week

week

Long 14,998 15,203

Short 32,765 28,199

Net -17,767 -12,996

(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Ken Ferris)