By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Speculators’ net long bets on the U.S. dollar fell to a five-week low, according to calculations by Reuters and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.
The value of the net long dollar position was $14.71 billion for the week ended May 31. Last week, speculators’ net long position stood at $17.65 billion.
U.S. 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.
The U.S. dollar has risen nearly 7% against a basket of currencies this year, helped by a hawkish Federal Reserve and heightened geopolitical tensions that have boosted the greenback’s safe-haven appeal.
The greenback’s rally, however, has lost steam in recent weeks, as some investors worry that a lot of the good news for the currency is already reflected in the price.
“The dollar has been on an absolute tear for the first four months of the year … but nothing goes up in a straight line,” said Minh Trang, senior currency trader at Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California.
On Friday, U.S. dollar rose against a basket of currencies, after a better-than-expected U.S. employment report pointed to a tight labor market that could keep the Federal Reserve on an aggressive path of interest rate hikes.
