Currency speculators boosted bets against the US dollar in the latest week for the first time in four weeks, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday. The value of the dollar's net short position rose to $15.73 billion in the week ended May 31, from net shorts of $13.02 billion a week earlier.
Speculators reversed bets in favour of the Japanese yen and are now positioned for the currency's decline, with net short positions standing at 1,648 contracts. They sharply reduced bets against the sterling in the latest week, the CFTC data showed. Net long euro positions increased slightly to 21,970 contracts from 19,129 contracts a week earlier.
Speculators also boosted bets in favour of further gains in the Swiss franc in the latest week. The franc has hit record highs against the dollar and euro in recent days as investors sought safe havens on fears of Europe's debt crisis and signs of a global economic slowdown. The Reuters calculation for the aggregate US dollar position is derived from the net positions of International Monetary Market speculators in the yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc, Canadian and Australian dollars. To be short a currency is to bet it will decrease in value, while being long a currency is a bet its value will rise.