Leveraged funds increase net USD long positions for the third consecutive week

CFTC net speculative positioning data for the week ending 11 October 2016 showed that leveraged funds added net USD long positions for the third consecutive week. The aggregate long USD position rose a notable $3.3bn w/w to $16.6bn, its highest level since the market turmoil from early February.

Major changes in sentiment were limited to the G4. JPY saw the largest selling against the USD. A sizeable $2.8bn drop in bullish JPY positions and a $2.4bn build in bearish EUR bets were evidenced.

EUR remains the largest held net short, followed by GBP. EUR’s net short position has widened $1.4bn w/w to $12.9bn and investors are adding to EUR risk on both sides. GBP net short position remains sizeable at $7.2bn with a $0.5bn narrowing from last week’s record. Flash crash in the pound had a relatively minor impact on positioning.

The net short CAD position is relatively unchanged on a w/w basis. CAD and AUD were the only G10 currencies to see net buying against the USD. With this, net overall short CAD positions were pared to USD1.6bn and net long AUD positions were raised to USD2.2bn (see Figures 9 and 10 in PDF). NZD however saw net selling of USD0.3bn to take its overall net long position to USD1.6bn, on rate cut expectations by RBNZ in the November meeting