UPDATE 1-Speculators' net long U.S. dollar bets hit six-week high -CFTC, Reuters data

(Adds CFTC table, bitcoin futures, details, byline, analyst
comment)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Speculators' net long bets on
the U.S. dollar rose to the highest level since mid-October in
the latest week, according to calculations by Reuters and U.S.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Monday.
The value of the net long dollar position was $22.11 billion
for the week ended Nov. 23, up from net longs of $18.30 billion
in the previous week. U.S. dollar net long positioning rose for
the first time in seven weeks.
U.S. dollar positioning was derived from net contracts of
International Monetary Market speculators in the Japanese yen,
euro, British pound, Swiss franc, and Canadian and Australian
dollars.
In a wider measure of dollar positioning,
which includes net contracts on the New Zealand dollar, Mexican
peso, Brazilian real and Russian rouble, the greenback posted a
net long position of $21.964 billion this week, up from $17.982
billion in the prior week.
The dollar largely benefited in the last few weeks from a
hawkish stance by Federal Reserve policymakers in the wake of
strong U.S. data, which was in contrast to more dovish rate
outlooks from Europe and Japan.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell's renomination last week had backed
expectations that the U.S. central bank will raise interest
rates multiple times next year to fend off surging inflation.
That outlook could change, and with it the dollar's
prospects, with the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus
variant, which threatens to upend a budding global recovery
following a two-year pandemic.
Over the last three weeks, the dollar has gained about 1.3%
.
In other currencies, the euro's net shorts rose sharply in
the latest week to 16,452 contracts.
"The euro looked on track to test the $1.12 level in the
days following the data cutoff amid ultra-dovish policy settings
at the ECB (European Central Bank) and the risk of lockdowns in
the currency zone due to surging contagions," said Scotiabank in
a research note after the release of the CFTC data.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin net shorts dropped to 160
contracts, the smallest since mid-January 2019, from 1,478
contracts the previous week.
The drop in net shorts came as inflows into bitcoin products
and funds hit their highest in five weeks, in the week ended
Nov. 26, totaling $247 million, CoinShares data showed,
following the launch of another investment product in Europe.

Bitcoin has seen inflows for 11 straight weeks with a total
of $2.7 billion. On Nov 10, it hit an all-time peak of $69,000
and was last down 1.6% at $58,268.

Japanese Yen (Contracts of 12,500,000 yen)
$10.56 billion
23 Nov 2021 Prior week
week
Long 20,285 24,635
Short 117,538 117,761
Net -97,253 -93,126

EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros)
$2.313 billion
23 Nov 2021 Prior week
week
Long 204,214 198,181
Short 220,666 202,007
Net -16,452 -3,826

POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling)
$2.89 billion
23 Nov 2021 Prior week
week
Long 50,122 50,443
Short 84,701 82,042
Net -34,579 -31,599

SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs)
$1.524 billion
23 Nov 2021 Prior week
week
Long 6,241 5,502
Short 17,617 14,391
Net -11,376 -8,889

CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars)
$0.248 billion
23 Nov 2021 Prior week
week
Long 44,320 44,147
Short 47,455 35,438
Net -3,135 8,709

AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Aussie dollars)
$4.572 billion
23 Nov 2021 Prior week
week
Long 40,523 30,760
Short 103,788 91,913
Net -63,265 -61,153

MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos)
$1.168 billion
23 Nov 2021 Prior week
week
Long 80,691 69,984
Short 130,152 117,639
Net -49,461 -47,655

NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 New Zealand dollars)
$-0.968 billion
23 Nov 2021 Prior week
week
Long 27,835 26,388
Short 13,896 12,423
Net 13,939 13,965


(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Leslie
Adler)