Speculators trimmed their net long bets on the US dollar in the latest week, according to calculations by Reuters and Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.
The value of the net long dollar position was $16.77 billion in the week ended Aug. 6. The net long dollar position had stood at $18.70 billion last week, the highest level since late June.
To be long a currency means traders believe it will rise in value, while being short points to a bearish bias. 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 ruble, the greenback posted a net long position of $12.89 billion in the week ended August 6, compared with $14.78 billion the previous week.
The yen and Swiss franc gained against the greenback on Friday as investors sought safe-haven currencies due to US-China trade war concerns, political uncertainty in Italy, and weak economic data around the world.
The dollar has come under pressure this week as US President Donald Trump repeated his call for a weaker currency to help American manufacturers. The dollar index dipped 0.5% this week, logging its biggest weekly decline since June 21.