Speculators' net short dollar bets at highest in over a year

Speculators' net short dollar bets rose to the highest in more than a year, in the latest week, according to calculations by Reuters and Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday. The value of the net short dollar positions, derived from net positions of International Monetary Market speculators in the yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc and Canadian and Australian dollars, was $21.99 billion in the week to March 20.
That compares with a net short position of $14.61 billion the previous week. To be short a currency means traders believe it will fall in value. Net short positioning on the Japanese yen shrank to 21,999 contracts, the smallest position since November 2016, from a net short position of 79,539 contracts, last week, the data showed.