(New throughout, adds sterling contracts, table, details on
dollar and sterling)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, June 10 (Reuters) - Speculators ramped up their
bets against sterling in the latest week by the most in nearly
five years, as hedge funds and other asset managers struck a
decidedly defensive stance in the British currency two weeks
ahead of a crucial referendum over whether the country should
remain in the European Union.
Sterling net short positions more than doubled to 66,299
contracts, valued at nearly $6 billion, in the week ended June 7
from 32,851 the previous week, according to data from the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday. It was
the largest net short position in sterling in three years, and
the weekly increase was the largest since September 2011.
Speculators have been persistently net short sterling for
about six months. Until the latest reading, however, net short
positioning had fallen substantially from the previous
three-year high hit back in April.
With market participants growing increasingly focused on
what is seen as a toss-up result, open interest in CME sterling
futures has been building. In the latest week, it rose by more
than 15,000 contracts to a three-month high of 259,238 valued at
more than $23 billion.
Sterling on Friday fell to a two-month low in the wake of
the latest poll on the EU referendum, and so far this year, the
British pound was down 3.2 percent.
Britons will vote on June 23 on whether to leave the EU, a
decision with far-reaching implications for politics, the
economy and trade in Europe.
According to a poll by ORB for The Independent newspaper
published on Friday, the "Leave" camp was 10 points ahead of
"Remain". It was the biggest lead enjoyed by those wanting
Britain to quit the 28-member bloc since the poll series started
a year ago, The Independent said.
Net long dollar positioning, meanwhile rose for a third
straight week, with net longs rising to their highest in four
months despite last week's U.S. non-farm payrolls report for May
that came way below market expectations.
The value of the dollar's net long position rose to $11.30
billion in the week ended June 7, from $4.86 billion the
previous week.
Position changes were most significant among the reserve
currencies, with notable deteriorations in already bearish
sentiment toward the euro and the British pound.
Swiss franc net positioning has turned bearish from neutral.
The yen, meanwhile, is the largest held net long while the
euro and sterling were the largest held net shorts.
The Reuters calculation for the aggregate U.S. dollar
position is derived from net positions of International Monetary
Market speculators in the yen, euro, sterling, Swiss franc and
Canadian and Australian dollars.
Japanese Yen (Contracts of 12,500,000 yen)
07 Jun 2016 Prior week
week
Long 68,237 46,964
Short 25,384 32,127
Net 42,853 14,837
EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros)
07 Jun 2016 Prior week
week
Long 93,492 98,218
Short 160,604 135,872
Net -67,112 -37,654
POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling)
07 Jun 2016 Prior week
week
Long 36,337 36,546
Short 102,636 69,397
Net -66,299 -32,851
SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs)
07 Jun 2016 Prior week
week
Long 21,644 24,291
Short 31,289 24,162
Net -9,645 129
CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars)
07 Jun 2016 Prior week
week
Long 37,421 38,753
Short 15,884 12,494
Net 21,537 26,259
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Aussie dollars)
07 Jun 2016 Prior week
week
Long 35,406 44,560
Short 51,214 49,318
Net -15,808 -4,758
MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos)
$1.615 billion
07 Jun 2016 Prior week
week
Long 22,389 20,193
Short 81,698 75,808
Net -59,309 -55,615
NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 New Zealand dollars)
07 Jun 2016 Prior week
week
Long 38,562 31,919
Short 30,026 26,415
Net 8,536 5,504
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Diane Craft
and David Gregorio)Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.