Dollar bearish bets rose as Fed signaled low rates until 2024

US dollar net short bets decrease reversed with total net shorts rising to $33.60 billion from $30.9 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 September 22 and released on Friday September 25. The increase in net short dollar bets was the result of mainly increase in bullish bets on euro as the euro-zone current account surplus decline to €16.6 billion in July from €20.7 billion was smaller than forecast. Dollar bearish bets rose as the Labor Department reported above expected 860 thousand Americans filed for first-time jobless benefits and Federal Reserve kept interest rates at zero and Fed chair Powell told interest rates would remain low until at least 2024 and more fiscal support is likely to be needed. At the same time the Chicago Fed’s national activity index, which reflects overall US economic activity, fell to 0.79 in August from 2.54 in the prior month, while the federal government debt soared 58.9% to $22.58 trillion in the second quarter, after 11.4% gain in the first quarter.