NEW YORK: Speculators’ net long bets on the US dollar fell in the latest week, according to calculations by Reuters and US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.

The value of the net long dollar position was $6.76 billion for the week ended Feb. 15, the lowest since August. Last week, speculators’ net long position stood at $7.81 billion. US dollar positioning was derived from net contracts of International Monetary Market speculators in the Japanese yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc, and Canadian and Australian dollars.

In a wider measure of dollar positioning that includes net contracts on the New Zealand dollar, Mexican peso, Brazilian real and Russian rouble, the greenback posted a net long of $6.17 billion, down from $7.57 billion a week earlier.

The dollar which rose 6.3% against a basket of currencies in 2021, has struggled to extend its gains this year, as investors fret that much of the good news that had driven the rally in the US currency is already priced in.