Specs trim bets vs U.S. dollar in latest week-CFTC, Reuters

NEW YORK Feb 1 (Reuters) - Currency speculators pared bets against the U.S. dollar in the latest week, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday.

The value of the dollar's net short position fell to $8.86 billion in the week ended Jan. 29, from shorts of $13.26 billion the previous week. It was the eighth straight week of net short bets on the dollar.

To be short a currency is to bet it will decline in value, while being long is a view its value will rise.

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.