CFTC Positioning Report: USD net longs at 2-month lows

These are the main highlights of the CFTC Positioning Report for the week ended on April 20^th:

• Speculators scaled back their gross longs in the dollar for the third week in a row and dragged net longs to the lowest level since mid-February. The persistent decline in US yields forced the US Dollar Index (DXY) to shed further ground in combination with investors’ shift to the economic recovery outside the US.
•  In contrast, net longs in EUR reversed the recent downtrend and rose to 4-week highs. Increasing optimism around the economic recovery in the region remains sustained by the firmer pace of the vaccination campaign and the generalized pick-up in inflows into the risk complex.
• GBP net longs increased to 2-week highs mainly helped by the softer note in the dollar along with solid perspective of the economic rebound later in the year, auspicious UK docket and the steady stance from the Bank of England (BoE).
• Moving into the safe havens’ space, speculators’ stance on the Swiss franc is now negative for the first time since March 2020, while net shorts in the Japanese yen climbed to levels last seen in mid-May 2019.