NEW YORK: US dollar net shorts fell to their lowest level since late April, according to calculations by Reuters and Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday. The value of the net short dollar position dropped to $10.44 billion in the week ended June 29, from net shorts of $12.80 billion the previous week. US dollar net short contracts slid for a second straight week.
US dollar positioning was derived from net contracts of International Monetary Market speculators in the Japanese yen, euro, British pound and Swiss franc, as well as the Canadian and Australian dollars. In a broader measure of dollar positioning that includes net contracts on the New Zealand dollar, Mexican peso, Brazilian real and Russian ruble, the greenback posted a net short position of $10.94 billion this week, compared with net shorts of $13.04 billion the week before.
The dollar has gained ground ever since the Federal Reserve took a surprising hawkish stance at its monetary policy meeting last month. Fed forecasts have penciled in two US rate increases by the end of 2023. For the month of June, the dollar index posted its best monthly performance since November 2016.
The dollar though on Friday gave up its gains after the release of what has been considered a mixed US non-farm payrolls report.
"Although our non-consensus view that the US dollar would strengthen this summer has been more than matched by recent market moves, we have not yet seen enough evidence to lower our long held six-month forecast of euro/dollar at $1.17," said Jane Foley, head of FX strategy at Rabobank in London.
The euro last traded up 0.1% at $1.1862. In the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin net shorts fell to 1,345 contracts in the week ended June 29, from net shorts of 1,528 the previous week. Bitcoin's rise has stalled this year in the wake of crackdowns on the crypto sector in China, Japan, Britain, and more recently Thailand.
Since hitting an all-time high of just under $65,000 in mid-April, bitcoin has fallen about 50%. On Friday, bitcoin was down 0.9% at $33,253. For the month of June, the world's most popular cryptocurrency has fallen 5%.
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