Market News

Investing.com -- Speculators turned net long on the Japanese yen for the first time since February, signalling growing bullish momentum after the currency rallied on expectations for faster Bank of Japan rate hikes, Reuters reported.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data released late Friday showed net non-commercial positions in yen futures reached 10,796 long contracts in the week through September 8.

That marked a sharp reversal from net short positions of 92,227 contracts a week earlier and represented the first overall net long position since February 24.

The shift comes after the yen strengthened sharply this month, supported by expectations that the Bank of Japan could accelerate its rate-hike schedule and speculation that Japanese investors may repatriate assets held overseas.

The yen reached 152.89 against the U.S. dollar on September 8, its strongest level since February 17.

The latest rally follows years of weakness for the Japanese currency. Its decline accelerated after fiscal dove Sanae Takaichi became prime minister last October, alongside concerns that the BOJ was falling behind other central banks in tightening monetary policy.

Those pressures pushed the yen to a four-decade low of 163.99 per dollar in July.

Tokyo and Washington subsequently intervened in currency markets to support the yen, helping reverse some of the earlier losses.

The latest positioning data indicates speculative investors have now shifted from betting on further yen weakness to expecting additional gains, with changing expectations for Japanese monetary policy providing a key catalyst for the turnaround.

The speed of the change was particularly pronounced, with net positioning swinging by more than 100,000 contracts in a single week.