The CFTC Commitments of Traders report in the week ended October 16 indicates that positioning on major currencies lowered as a whole. Speculative long positions for USD index futures dropped -2 635 contracts while shorts fell -2 802, sending the NET LENGTH higher, by +167 contracts, to 37 876 contracts. US dollar fell across the board last week.
NET SHORTS for both European currencies remained. For EUR futures, speculative long positions plunged -21 498 contracts while shorts plunged -8 296 contracts, deepening NET SHORT to 29 344 for the week. NET SHORT for GBP futures decreased -10 154 contracts to 50 353, thanks to the -8 187 units drop in speculative shorts positions. Bears might overwhelm next week as mass protest requesting second Brexit referendum might increase volatility in GBP.
On safe-haven currencies, Net SHORT for CHF futures gained +3 721 contracts to 16 524 while that for JPY futures fell, by -14 580 contracts, to 100 621 during the week.
All commodity currencies stayed in NET SHORT positions. NET SHORT for AUD futures dropped -1 793 contracts to 71 491, while that for NZD futures gained +1 592 contracts to 35 412. NET SHORT for CAD futures dropped -1 126 contracts to 11 019. Note that traders, both bulls and bears, reduced bets on the above currencies as uncertainty of global economic growth intensified.
