Hedge funds and other large speculators switched to a net short position against the dollar last week for the first time since September amid growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will soon move to “non-recessionary” interest-rate cuts, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The report cites data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as revealing that the combined position for bets across major currencies shifted to a net 26,355 contracts bearish on the dollar in the week ending last Tuesday. The biggest shifts were for the yen, with bets on dollar gains versus the Japanese currency dropping by more than 20%, and for the British pound, where wagers on dollar declines almost doubled.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dropped 1.2% to touch a four-month low after the Fed held interest rates and projected 75 basis points of reductions in 2024.
