Currency speculators increased bets against the US dollar in the latest week as an August 2 deadline looms to raise the country's debt limit, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday.
The value of the dollar's net short position rose to $25.42 billion in the week ended July 26, from $14 billion a week earlier. The US currency came under heavy pressure in recent sessions as a stalemate in Washington over raising the nation's debt limit stoked fears of a downgrade of the United States' top-notch triple-A credit rating and even a US debt default.
"The largest moves were seen in the euro and yen though aversion to the US dollar was broad-based given ongoing concerns over the debt limit in Washington," currency strategists at Scotia Capital wrote in a note. 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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