Speculators further scaled back bullish bets on the US dollar in the latest week, pushing the currency's net long position to the lowest in over nine months, according to Reuters calculations and data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday. The value of the dollar's net long position fell to $25.81 billion in the week ended May 19, from $29.11 billion the previous week. Net longs on the dollar declined for a eighth straight week.
It was also the sixth consecutive week that longs on the dollar came in below $40 billion. To be long in a currency is to take a view it will rise, while being short is a bet that its value will decline. Net short positions on the euro, meanwhile, fell for a seventh straight week, totaling 168,339 contracts, down from 178,976 previously. The decline in the negative bets on the euro was driven by disappointing US data that has hurt the dollar and easing concerns about deflation in the euro zone. The Reuters calculation for the aggregate US dollar position is derived from net positions of International Monetary speculators in the yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc and Canadian and Australian dollars.