Sterling recovers; long positions shrink to nine-week low

Monday,   12-Apr-2021   03:18 PM (IST)

The pound rose on Monday, recovering partly after a weekly loss, while CFTC data showed that speculators’ net long positions fell to a nine-week low as market participants split over the outlook for the UK economy. The UK’s vaccine rollout - one of the fastest in the world - helped the pound have its best quarter since 2015 in the first three months of 2021. That trend reversed last week, with sterling suffering a net 2.1% weekly loss against the euro - a move which market participants said was amplified by a squeeze of euro-pound short positions.  Speculators’ net long position on the pound versus the dollar shrank in the week to April 6, weekly futures data from CFTC showed. The market has been net bullish on the pound since early December 2020, but the latest data put levels of bullishness at its lowest since February. At 0726 GMT, the pound was at 86.595 pence per euro, up 0.3% on the day but still weaker than when it hit a one-year high of 84.720 this time last week. Against the dollar, the pound was up around 0.2% at $1.3742.