FX CFTC: CAD overtaking AUD as most preferred currency

Hedge funds and other speculative investors sold the dollar against all the other G8 currencies apart from NZD during the week ending May 1. The weekly data from the CFTC  showed that speculative investors reduced their combined dollar long by 36 percent to USD 11 billion with the two most popular currencies of the week being EUR and especially CAD.

Just like commodity investors where increased bullish bets were made just before the rout last week, currency traders also seem to have been offloading dollars at the wrong time considering the move towards the end of the week - and today following the elections results in Greece and France. This probably also helps to explain the strong dollar move towards the end of the week as long positions were rebuilt.

The CAD overtook the AUD as the most preferred currency with some USD 2.6 billion equivalent being added to bringing the CAD long to the most elevated since March 2011. The short position in EURO were scaled back but remained the currency that most prefer to sell, something that we would have seen again towards the end of last week and today with the important 1,3000 level being tested once again.

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