USD net longs decreased, EUR shorts reduced - ANZ
Research Team at ANZ lists down the CFTC speculative positioning data for the week ending 28 March 2017.
Key Quotes
“Leveraged funds turned net sellers of USD for the first time in four weeks, mainly against the G3 currencies. Overall net long USD positions decreased by USD5.2bn to USD14.1bn. This is not surprising given weakness in the dollar following the failed health care bill. The upcoming Trump-Xi meeting and FOMC minutes will be key for USD positioning in the coming weeks.”
“JPY saw the largest buying against the USD in the week. Overall net short JPY positions were reduced by USD2.7bn to USD1.4bn. This saw USD/JPY flirting with the 110 level.”
“For the third straight week, funds reduced their net EUR short positions, this time by USD1.2bn to USD8.1bn. GBP also saw net buying after three weeks of net selling. Net short GBP positions decreased by USD1.4bn to USD3.9bn, ahead of the UK officially triggering Article 50 on 29 March to withdraw from the EU.”
“Positioning amongst commodity currencies were mixed. AUD remains in favour as funds added USD0.5bn to take their overall net AUD longs to USD3.9bn, the second consecutive week of net buying. However, CAD and NZD continued to see net selling for the fourth straight week at a combined USD0.9bn. CAD saw net selling of USD0.6bn to increase its overall short position to USD3bn. Funds turned net short NZD overall for the first time since February 2016. This is a sharp turnaround from record net long positions only four weeks ago.”
“Leveraged funds remained bullish on EM currencies for the third straight week, with a combined net buying of USD0.3bn. This was primarily led by MXN which has seen its overall positioning turning net long for the first time since May 2016. Total net long positioning in MXN, RUB, and BRL are now at their highest since September 2014.”
“Net short UST positions were trimmed for the fourth straight week by 17.5k contracts. Meanwhile, funds reduced their net long crude oil positions for the fifth consecutive week to the lowest level since December 2016.”