(Adds details, table, bitcoin details, paragraphs 4-11)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
Feb 9 (Reuters) - Speculators' net short U.S. dollar bets declined for the first time in six weeks, according to calculations by Reuters and Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.
The value of the net short dollar position, derived from net holdings of International Monetary Market speculators in the yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc and Canadian and Australian dollars, was $12.93 billion, in the week to Feb. 6.
The previous week's net short position on the dollar was $13.73 billion.
In a broader measure of dollar positioning that includes net contracts on the New Zealand dollar, Mexican peso, Brazilian real, and Russian rouble, the U.S. dollar posted a net short position valued at $17.0 billion, down from $17.48 billion the week before.
The dollar rebounded this week amid higher bond yields and interest rate expectations, a scenario that has triggered a sell-off in the U.S. equity market. The dollar has also benefited from safe-haven bids as a result.
"What is unambiguously clear is that whenever there's a global equity market sell-off, the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen are the best performers. That was the case this past week when we saw the yen and dollar skyrocket across the board," said Kathy Lien, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management in New York.
Up until last week, the dollar had been mired in negative sentiment as other major central banks have started to normalize their interest rate policies, pushing their currencies higher at the expense of the greenback.
The dollar was still down nearly 2 percent on the year to date. In 2017 it declined 10 percent.
Speculators, meanwhile, also trimmed net short positions on bitcoin futures traded on CBOE Global Markets to 2,040 contracts this week, from 2,139 contracts the previous week, CFTC data showed.
After a roller-coaster ride that saw bitcoin plunge along with other risk assets, the virtual currency stabilized over the last two sessions, trading up 3 percent at $8,495 on Friday.
It has fallen about 70 percent from its peak of almost $20,000 in December and was down more than 40 percent so far this year. It gained more than 1,300 percent last year.
Japanese Yen (Contracts of 12,500,000 yen) $13.182 billion
06 Feb 2018Prior week
week Long 39,10847,828Short 151,984 162,524Net-112,876-114,696 EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros)$-23.055 billion
06 Feb 2018Prior week
week Long251,369 258,022Short 110,546 109,280Net 140,823 148,742 POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling)$-2.806 billion
06 Feb 2018 Prior week
week Long 81,698 95,667Short53,831 63,926Net27,867 31,741 SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs)$2.72 billion
06 Feb 2018 Prior week
week Long 16,898 16,673Short37,139 37,000Net -20,241-20,327 CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars)$-2.714 billion
06 Feb 2018 Prior week
week Long 69,492 75,296Short29,328 41,831Net40,164 33,465 AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Aussie dollars)$-1.063 billion
06 Feb 2018 Prior week
week Long 68,273 63,496Short54,525 50,345Net13,748 13,151 MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos)$-2.133 billion
06 Feb 2018 Prior week
week Long127,650110,923Short34,795 30,878Net92,855 80,045 NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 New Zealand dollars)$-0.254 billion
06 Feb 2018 Prior week
week Long 29,316 29,667Short25,984 26,197Net 3,3323,470
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by James Dalgleish and David Gregorio)
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