Speculators increased their net long dollar position in the latest week, according to calculations by Reuters and US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday. The value of the dollar's net long position, derived from net positions of International Monetary Market speculators in the yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc and Canadian and Australian dollars, rose to $17.37 billion in the week ending Sept. 24, from $15.29 billion the previous week.

In a wider measure of dollar positioning that includes net contracts on the New Zealand dollar, Mexican peso, Brazilian real and Russian ruble, the US dollar posted a net long position valued at $17.37 billion, up from $15.40 billion a week earlier. The dollar hit a more than two-year high against the euro on Friday as the single currency was weighed down by a weak growth outlook and loose monetary policy.

Copyright Reuters, 2019