As suggested in the CFTC Commitments of Traders report in the week ended August 14, NET LENGTH of USD index increased further, by +1 931 contracts, to 30 102 for the week. This was driven by the fact that the increase in speculative long positions doubled that of shorts.
EUR futures turned to NET SHORT of 1 789 contracts, from NET LENGTH of 10 565 contracts a week ago. Turkish currency crisis has raised concerns that the problem would spread to other European countries, especially those having high exposure to Turkey. speculative long positions increased +10 505 contracts but were more than offset by the +22 859 increase in short positions. Meanwhile, NET SHORT for GBP futures deepened to 60 741 contracts, up +1 889 from the prior week.
On safe-haven currencies. Net SHORT for CHF futures slipped -259 contracts to 45 849 while that for JPY futures plunged -4 439 contracts to 58 368 during the week. As we predicted last week, there were bigger bets for price increases for both currencies as geopolitical tensions in Turkey, Russia and Iran have raised demand for safe haven assets.
All commodity currencies stayed in NET SHORT positions. NET SHORT for AUD futures dropped -2 757 contracts to 51 783, while that for NZD futures gained +2 166 contracts to 26 696 . NET SHORT for CAD futures rose +1 300 contracts to 26 198.
CFTC Commitments of Traders: EUR Turned to NET SHORT Amidst Contagion Fear
