Hedge Funds Betting Against Aussie Risk Losses as Swings Subside

  • Bearish position nearly doubled to biggest short in six months
  • Aussie has strengthened versus all its G-10 peers in November

A Kangaroo is seen on an Australian one dollar coin in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, October 22, 2007.

Photographer: Jack Atley/Bloomberg
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Hedge funds may have picked a bad time to add to bets against Australia’s dollar, this month’s best-performing major currency.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed large speculators increased positions wagering on Aussie declines by 83 percent in the space of three weeks to a net 66,464 contracts as of Nov. 17. That’s the most since a record short bet on March 10, when bears were caught on the wrong side of a 6.4 percent rally over two months. The currency has climbed at least 0.9 percent against its Group of 10 currency peers this month and measures of exchange-rate and equity market volatility are below this year’s averages.