The CFTC Commitments of Traders report in the week ended October 23 shows that all major currencies (except USD) were in NET SHORT positions. Bets on USD index increased on both sides. Speculative longs gained +2 989 contracts while shorts added +2 837, sending the NET LENGTH higher, by +152 contracts, to 38 028 contracts. The greenback strengthened across the board during the week.
NET SHORTS for both European currencies remained. For EUR futures, speculative long positions gained +8 768 contracts while shorts rose +9 728 contracts, deepening NET SHORT to 30 304 for the week. NET SHORT for GBP futures decreased -3 356 contracts to 46 997.
On safe-haven currencies, Net SHORT for CHF futures added +581 contracts to 17 105 while that for JPY futures fell, by -7 817 contracts, to 92 804 during the week. Bets on the latter dropped on both sides but the decline in speculative shorts (-7 991 contracts) overshadowed that in the longs.
All commodity currencies stayed in NET SHORT positions. NET SHORT for AUD futures dropped -1 123 contracts to 70 368, while that for NZD futures gained +2 364 contracts to 33 048. NET SHORT for CAD futures dropped -3 791 contracts to 7 228. BOC raised the policy rate by +25 bps to 1.755 last week. It also replaced the “gradual” monetary policy language by “neutral”, raising hopes for further rate hikes. This should help support the loonie.
