Forex futures market speculative positioning data from the CFTC Commitments of Traders report as of the close on Tuesday, Dec 31, 2013:

  • EUR net long down to 30.6K vs long 32.2K prior
  • JPY net shorts fall to 58.4K vs short 143.8K prior (that’s a big trimming!)
  • GBP net long 22.8K vs long 14.4K prior
  • AUD net short 57.4K vs short 54.2K prior
  • CAD net short 58K vs short 58.4K prior
  • CHF net long 10.9K vs long 11.9K prior

Big trimming of positions in the yen. Tokyo markets were closed nearly all of last week, so some reduction of yen risk was probably prudent. The retrace we have seen in yen over last week and into Monday has given better levels for reloading of yen shorts.

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Added – I’m going to have to check this data from the source as it appears to be at odds with the primary data from the CFTC

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Added again:

OK, here are the correct numbers … from the horse’s mouth this time:

  • EUR is correct, net long down to 30.6K vs long 32.2K prior
  • Yen net short is 135K (from 148K prior)
  • GBP is correct, net long 22.8K vs long 14.4K prior
  • AUD is correct, net short 57.4K vs short 54.2K prior
  • CAD is correct, net short 58K vs short 58.4K prior
  • CHF is correct, net long 10.9K vs long 11.9K prior

So, it was only the yen data that Bloomberg had reported incorrectly. I apologize for that. While there has been some trimming of yen positions it is no where near the extent originally reported. Thanks to all in the comments who questioned the data and helped dig into the direct data source.