NEW YORK: Currency speculators increased bets in favor of the US dollar for the first time in four weeks in the latest week, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday.
The value of the dollar's net long position rose to $20.95 billion in the week ended May 8, from $13.31 billion the previous week.
Short euro positions climbed to their highest since mid-February, at 143,984 contracts, from 106,990 a week earlier.
The euro zone common currency sold off in recent days as political chaos in Greece and a French leadership change threw doubts on whether Europe can commit to austerity plans crucial to tackling the region's debt crisis.
The euro hit a 3-1/2-month low of $1.2903 on Friday.
Speculators added to bets in favor of the British pound , with long positions of 25,339 contracts, the highest since March 2008.
But they halved long positions in the Australian dollar and also slightly trimmed bets in favor of the Canadian and New Zealand dollars.
To be short a currency is to bet it will decline in value, while being long is a view its value will rise.
The Reuters calculation for the aggregate US dollar position is derived from net positions of International Monetary Market speculators in the yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc, Canadian and Australian dollars.
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