Speculators' net long US dollar bets flat amid trade turmoil

New York

SPECULATORS' net long dollar position was little changed last week from the previous week, according to calculations by Reuters and US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.

The value of the net long dollar position was US$34.61 billion in the week ended May 28, compared with US$34.76 billion in the previous week. The US speculative community has been net long dollars since mid-July last year.

US dollar positioning was derived from net contracts of International Monetary Market speculators in the Japanese yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc and Canadian and Australian dollars.

In a broader measure of dollar positioning that includes net contracts on the New Zealand dollar, Mexican peso, Brazilian real and Russian rouble, the greenback posted a net long position of US$31.33 billion in the week ended May 28, compared with US$30.85 billion the previous week.

The US dollar so far this year has held up well, up 1.6 per cent amid trade fights with China and now Mexico. Investors bought the US dollar in a flight to safety move, with Japanese yen and Swiss franc, also garnering bids. Analysts said the escalating trade war could slow US growth, dampen inflation, and trigger a sizeable global stock market correction and global profits recession. The dollar is expected to be a major beneficiary from all the turmoil. REUTERS