(Adds details on dollar, yen, Mexican peso contracts, analyst
comments, table, byline)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Speculators boosted net longs
on the U.S. dollar to their highest in six weeks, Reuters
calculations and data from the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission showed on Friday, in a volatile week that saw the
greenback rack up gains as a safe haven due to the troubles at
Deutsche Bank.
The value of the dollar's net long position rose to $9.7
billion in the week ended Sept. 27, from $6.6 billion
previously, the data showed.
The dollar index ended flat on the week, but was down 0.6
percent for the month of September. Deutsche, which is Germany's
largest bank, has been engulfed by crisis after being handed a
demand for up to $14 billion by the Department of Justice for
misselling mortgage-backed securities.
"Risk aversion should keep the greenback bid against
currencies like the euro, British pound, Australian and New
Zealand dollars," said Kathy Lien, managing director of FX
strategy at BK Asset Management in New York.
That said, the case for a December rate hike remained firmly
in place with Friday's economic data supporting that, analysts
said, which should underpin the dollar in the short term.
In addition, this week's line-up of Federal Reserve speakers
showed a "more forceful voice building" for a December
tightening, said Marvin Loh, senior global markets strategist,
at BNY Mellon in Boston.
The yen net long position, meanwhile, rose to a five-month
peak of 68,892 contracts, data showed, in the aftermath of the
Bank of Japan's decision last week to target Japanese government
bonds' long-term yields.
Investors believed the BoJ will be unable to prevent the yen
from strengthening further, noting that the currency has further
room for gains. So far this year, the yen has climbed nearly 19
percent against the dollar, on pace for its best yearly
performance since the global financial crisis in 2008.
Data also showed that the Mexican peso's net short position
eased this week to 85,873 contracts, from a record level the
week before.
Japanese Yen (Contracts of 12,500,000 yen)
$-8.575 billion
27 Sep 2016 Prior week
week
Long 97,432 85,117
Short 28,540 26,332
Net 68,892 58,785
EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros)
$10.657 billion
27 Sep 2016 Prior week
week
Long 100,492 95,698
Short 176,522 180,723
Net -76,030 -85,025
POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling)
$7.138 billion
27 Sep 2016 Prior week
week
Long 48,177 69,233
Short 135,891 127,919
Net -87,714 -58,686
SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs)
$0.767 billion
27 Sep 2016 Prior week
week
Long 12,803 27,281
Short 18,759 18,868
Net -5,956 8,413
CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars)
$0.88 billion
27 Sep 2016 Prior week
week
Long 34,579 57,216
Short 46,194 40,913
Net -11,615 16,303
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Aussie dollars)
$-1.151 billion
27 Sep 2016 Prior week
week
Long 62,892 48,543
Short 47,884 41,695
Net 15,008 6,848
MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos)
$2.215 billion
27 Sep 2016 Prior week
week
Long 24,865 20,526
Short 110,738 109,868
Net -85,873 -89,342
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 New Zealand dollars)
$0.496 billion
27 Sep 2016 Prior week
week
Long 34,159 34,778
Short 40,952 42,694
Net -6,793 -7,916
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Chizu
Nomiyama and Alistair Bell)Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.