UPDATE 1-Specs cut long US dollar bets to lowest since Nov 2011-CFTC

NEW YORK, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Currency speculators further pared bets in
favor of the U.S. dollar in the latest week to the lowest since November 2011,
according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on
Friday.
The value of the dollar's net long position fell to $8.92 billion in the
week ended Aug. 14, from $11.7 billion the previous week. It was the fourth
straight decline in U.S. dollar longs and was the smallest net long position in
nine months.
To be long a currency is to bet it will rise in value, while being short is
a view its value will fall.
The Reuters calculation for the aggregate U.S. dollar position is derived
from net positions of International Monetary Market speculators in the yen,
euro, British pound, Swiss franc, Canadian and Australian dollars.
Net longs in the Australian and Canadian dollars also increased to 66,679
and 28,593 contracts in the latest week.
"Risk appetite was clearly higher with the increase in net longs in the
Aussie and Canadian dollars," said Camilla Sutton, chief currency strategist,
Scotia Capital in Toronto.
She said this all started a few weeks ago when European Central Bank
President Mario Draghi said the bank will do whatever it takes to support the
euro. Since then, the euro has stabilized and has not declined as sharply as
many had expected, Sutton noted.
The net short euro position is no longer as extreme as it was in June, but
it is still significant at 137,810 contracts, slightly higher from the previous
week's 131,711.

JAPANESE YEN (Contracts of 12,500,000 yen) -4,875,508,130.08
8/14/12 week 8/07/12 week
Long 55,983 55,883
Short 25,279 28,344
Net 30,704 27,539

EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros) 21,224,462,625.00
8/14/12 week 8/07/12 week
Long 43,152 46,742
Short 180,962 178,453
Net -137,810 -131,711

POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling) 28,215,000.00
8/14/12 week 8/07/12 week
Long 32,054 25,764
Short 32,342 34,039
Net -288 -8,275

SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs) 2,418,419,702.41
8/14/12 week 8/07/12 week
Long 6,140 6,771
Short 24,994 24,686
Net -18,854 -17,915

CANADA DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars) -2,881,487,453.39
8/14/12 week 8/07/12 week
Long 53,894 43,190
Short 25,301 24,068
Net 28,593 19,122

AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Aussie dollars) -6,992,626,730.00
8/14/12 week 8/07/12 week
Long 109,875 94,635
Short 43,196 41,741
Net 66,679 52,894

MEXICO PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos) -3,169,081,428.97
8/14/12 week 8/07/12 week
Long 95,816 81,901
Short 12,305 12,523
Net 83,511 69,378

NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 New Zealand dollars) -1,227,383,500.00
8/14/12 week 8/07/12 week
Long 18,273 17,808
Short 3,026 3,220
Net 15,247 14,588