Speculators increase long dollar bets to 15-week high

• The value of the net long dollar position was $18.78 billion in the week ended Oct. 1.
• The net long dollar position had stood at $17.8 billion last week.

NEW YORK: Speculators boosted their net long bets on the US dollar in the latest week to the highest in 15 weeks, according to calculations by Reuters and Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.

The value of the net long dollar position was $18.78 billion in the week ended Oct. 1. The net long dollar position had stood at $17.8 billion last week.

To be long a currency means traders believe it will rise in value, while being short points to a bearish bias. US 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.

In a wider measure of dollar positioning that includes net contracts on the New Zealand dollar, Mexican peso, Brazilian real and Russian ruble, the US dollar posted a net long position valued at $18.28 billion, up from $17.49 billion a week earlier.