Speculators in yen futures extended a net short position in the week ended August 10, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed on Friday.
"Short" positions are effectively bets that a specific currency will decline.
The data from the CFTC's Commitments of Traders report on speculative positioning are used by analysts as an indicator of future market direction.
For example, extreme net long speculative positions often signal a decline in the currency going forward, especially if that position conflicts with the positioning of the more influential commercial players.
Speculators generally are trend followers seeking to pick a precise top or bottom in the market.
Yen futures speculators extended the net short position to 8,282 contracts from 3,268 contracts a week earlier.
"There is a bit of a turn for the worse on the yen. It is noticeable that (the data) suggests that the speculative accounts are increasingly willing to make a rare play at going long the dollar against the yen and that fits into the knee-jerk 'high oil, sell the yen' notion." said Sean Callow, currency strategist with IDEAglobal in New York.
Japan's very heavy dependence on imported oil makes the yen especially vulnerable to rising oil prices.
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