Quarterly Outlook
Macro Outlook: The US rate cut cycle has begun
Peter Garnry
Chief Investment Strategist
Head of Commodity Strategy
Summary: Speculative dollar selling accelerated during the first full week of trading. Against ten IMM currency futures the net dropped 54% to an 18-month low
Saxo Bank publishes two weekly Commitment of Traders reports (COT) covering leveraged fund positions in bonds and stock index futures. For IMM currency futures and the VIX, we use the broader measure called non-commercial.
Five weeks of selling has driven the speculative dollar long against ten IMM currency futures and the Dollar Index down to just $5.6 billion, the lowest bets on a stronger dollar in 18 months. The first week of trading was particularly brutal with the dollar being sold against all the major currencies.
The carry supported MXN reached a nine-month high last week and is now challenging the dollar as the most popular long. The GBP long meanwhile reached 16.5k lots, the most bullish since May 2018 while EUR net shorts were trimmed to the least since November.