Dollar bearish bets edge up after weak data

US dollar net short bets increase continued to $11.51 billion from $11.34 billion against the major currencies during the one week period, according to the report of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) covering data up to April 21 and released on Friday April 24. The change in overall dollar position was due to increase in bullish bets on yen and Swiss franc, while bearish bets on Canadian and Australian dollars were cut further as they maintained net short positions against the dollar. British Pound bets turned bearish joining Canadian and Australian dollars. Bearish dollar bets rose as the Commerce Department reported a bigger than expected 8.7% drop in retail sales in March, and the Federal Reserve reported US capacities utilization declined to lower than expected 72.7% in March from 77%, while the industrial production fell 5.4% - the largest drop since 1946.