Currency speculators in the latest week reduced bets in favour of the US dollar and turned short on the Japanese yen for the first time since at least September last year, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday.
The value of the dollar's net long position fell to $12.98 billion in the week ended February 28, from $17.25 billion the previous week. To be long a currency is to bet it will rise in value, while being short is a view its value will decline. The net short yen position was 1,203 contracts in the latest week, from net longs of 17,257 contracts.
The yen has started to decline in the past few weeks after the Bank of Japan's recent monetary easing. The Japanese currency has declined nearly 6 percent against the dollar so far this year, compared with gains of 5.5 percent in 2011. Net longs on the Australian dollar, increased further, to 78,201 contracts, their highest late July.
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