(Adds background, details to latest data, table)
NEW YORK, March 30 (Reuters) - Speculators trimmed their net
short dollar bets earlier this week from their highest levels
since August 2011, according to calculations by Reuters and
Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.
The value of the net short dollar positions, derived from
net positions of International Monetary Market speculators in
the yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc and Canadian and
Australian dollars, was $21.73 billion in week ended March 27.
This was a bit lower than the $21.99 billion calculated in the
week of March 20.
To be short a currency means traders believe it will fall in
value.
Net short positioning on the Japanese yen declined to 3,668
contracts, the smallest position since November 2016, from a net
short position of 21,999 contracts, last week, the data showed.
The dollar's fall against the yen in recent months has come
despite higher U.S. bond yields. The spread between the 10-year
U.S. and Japanese government bond yields
reached its widest in a decade this quarter as the Federal
Reserve has raised interest rates steadily while the Bank of
Japan is stuck with monetary easing.
The greenback dropped 5.7 percent versus the yen in the
first three months of 2018 following a 3.6 percent drop for all
of 2017.
The dollar lost ground broadly in the first quarter, marking
a fifth straight quarter of losses on expectations of faster
growth outside the United States and anxiety about a trade war
stemming from tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The index that tracks the greenback against a basket of six
currencies including the yen fell 2.3 percent in the
quarter ending March 31.
Meanwhile, speculators' net short position on bitcoin CBOE
futures rose to 1,490 contracts, up from a net short
position of 1,370 contracts in the prior week, the data showed.
The Reuters calculation for the aggregate U.S. dollar
position is derived from net positions of International Monetary
speculators in the yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc and
Canadian and Australian dollars.
Japanese Yen (Contracts of 12,500,000 yen)
27 Mar 2018 Prior week
week
Long 56,544 47,902
Short 60,212 69,901
Net -3,668 -21,999
EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros)
27 Mar 2018 Prior week
week
Long 234,656 219,434
Short 93,592 86,695
Net 141,064 132,739
POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling)
27 Mar 2018 Prior week
week
Long 90,239 71,425
Short 56,063 47,618
Net 34,176 23,807
SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs)
27 Mar 2018 Prior week
week
Long 15,992 17,431
Short 25,437 25,677
Net -9,445 -8,246
CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars)
27 Mar 2018 Prior week
week
Long 33,518 78,744
Short 60,568 54,184
Net -27,050 24,560
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Australian dollars)
27 Mar 2018 Prior week
week
Long 51,072 53,750
Short 42,998 35,825
Net 8,074 17,925
MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos)
27 Mar 2018 Prior week
week
Long 130,264 105,870
Short 40,477 39,025
Net 89,787 66,845
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 New Zealand dollars)
27 Mar 2018 Prior week
week
Long 32,749 31,078
Short 14,510 11,452
Net 18,239 19,626
(Reporting by Richard Leong in New York
Additional reporting from Shinichi Saoshiro in TOKYO
Editing by Sandra Maler)
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