Euro vs Pound Sterling: Which is more popular amongst the exchange rate market speculators
The euro to pound exchange rate is trading 0.1 pct higher at 0.8387.
The pound to euro exchange rate is trading at 1.1923.
Euro vs Pound Sterling: Both have seen their popularity increase
Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking comment on the revelation that more speculators are now betting on GBP gains:
"Net non-commercial GBP positions turned net long in the week to September 24th for the first time since February. Nevertheless, positioning is only marginally net long, so there is still plenty of scope for gains
should the current negative sentiment towards the USD continue.
"Upside for GBP is to some extent limited by the scope for EUR gains, but simultaneous problems in the US and the Eurozone also highlight the status of GBP as a safe haven, and our proprietary data also highlight that non-commercial accounts are tentatively taking long GBP positions for the first time this year."
Euro increasingly popular
As mentioned above, speculators have turned increasingly bullish on the Euro.
"EUR longs increased substantially in the week, with $5.8bn of net buying (one of the largest weekly purchases ever).
"This pushed the net position to $11.1bn; the most long specs have been since May 2011. Our real time indicator shows continued addition to net longs since Tuesday," says Ankit Sahni at Nomura.
Speculatirs have meanwhile closed most of their USD long position in the aftermath of the dovish FOMC, with $
9.8bn of net selling, taking net USD positions to $2.7 bn.
"Our real time indicator shows continued selling in the days since Tuesday, pushing net USD positions to almost flat at $0.7bn," says Sahni.
Data from the major US futures & options exchanges (CFTC) are released each Friday evening and report positions
up to the close of business on the previous Tuesday. Traders are classified as either commercial or non-commercial. The positioning of the non-commercial traders can be used as a proxy for the speculative side of the market.