© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Woman holds U.S. dollar banknotes in this illustration taken May 30, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Speculators’ net long bets on the U.S. dollar fell to a five-week low, according to calculations by Reuters and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.
The value of the net long dollar position was $14.71 billion for the week ended May 31. Last week, speculators’ net long position stood at $17.65 billion.
U.S. dollar positioning was derived from net contracts of International Monetary Market speculators in the Japanese yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc, and Canadian and Australian dollars.
The U.S. dollar has risen nearly 7% against a basket of currencies this year, helped by a hawkish Federal Reserve and heightened geopolitical tensions that have boosted the greenback’s safe-haven appeal.
The greenback’s rally, however, has lost steam in recent weeks, as some investors worry that a lot of the good news for the currency is already reflected in the price.
“The dollar has been on an absolute tear for the first four months of the year … but nothing goes up in a straight line,” said Minh Trang, senior currency trader at Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California.
On Friday, U.S. dollar rose against a basket of currencies, after a better-than-expected U.S. employment report pointed to a tight labor market that could keep the Federal Reserve on an aggressive path of interest rate hikes.
JAPANESE YEN (Contracts of 12,500,000 yen)
$9.174 billion
31 May 2022 Prior week
week
Long 15,201 16,567
Short 109,640 116,011
Net -94,439 -99,444
EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros)
$-7.013 billion
31 May 2022 Prior week
week
Long 236,553 237,072
Short 184,281 198,142
Net 52,272 38,930
POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling)
$5.836 billion
31 May 2022 Prior week
week
Long 30,788 25,936
Short 104,893 106,308
Net -74,105 -80,372
SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs)
$2.666 billion
31 May 2022 Prior week
week
Long 2,641 1,355
Short 23,099 21,028
Net -20,458 -19,673
CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars)
$0.554 billion
31 May 2022 Prior week
week
Long 30,520 28,999
Short 37,527 41,686
Net -7,007 -12,687
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 dollars)
$3.492 billion
31 May 2022 Prior week
week
Long 32,897 36,579
Short 81,579 82,025
Net -48,682 -45,446
MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos)
$-0.902 billion
31 May 2022 Prior week
week
Long 114,480 83,031
Short 79,031 53,239
Net 35,449 29,792
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 New Zealand dollars)
$1.219 billion
31 May 2022 Prior week
week
Long 9,179 10,749
Short 27,903 30,070
Net -18,724 -19,321
