Currency speculators increased bets against the US dollar in the latest week, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday. The value of the dollar's net short position rose to $15.08 billion in the week ended July 5, from net shorts of $12.44 billion a week earlier.
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. Sterling net shorts rose to 31,669 contracts, their largest since July 2010.
Speculators increased bets in favour of the Japanese yen and euro, but trimmed long positions in the Swiss franc. The CFTC data also showed speculators reversed bets against the Canadian dollar in the last week. To be short a currency is to bet it will decline in value, while being long a currency is a bet its value will rise.