Investing.com - The Investing.com weekly sentiment index published on Monday revealed that speculators increased their bearish bets against the euro to extreme levels in the week ending March 20.
According to the report, only 24.1% of investors held long positions in EUR/USD as of last week, down from 27.2% in the preceding week. A reading below 30% indicates oversold conditions.
Meanwhile, 34.4% of investors were long in GBP/USD, compared to 39.5% a week earlier, 52.1% of market participants held long positions in USD/JPY, down from 57.0% in the preceding week, while 46.0% of investors were long USD/CHF, compared to 49.1% in the previous week.
Amongst the commodity-linked currencies, 51.6% were long USD/CAD, up from 49.1% a week earlier, 41.0% held long positions in AUD/USD, compared to 24.2% in the preceding week, while 34.4% were long NZD/USD, down from 36.9% a week earlier.
Elsewhere, 22.1% of investors were long the S&P 500 last week, down from 31.3% in the preceding week.
In the commodities market, 45.9% of market participants held long positions in gold futures as of last week, down from 51.7% in the preceding week.
A reading between 50%-70% is bullish for the instrument, a reading between 30% and 50% is bearish, a reading above 70% indicates overbought conditions and a reading below 30% indicates oversold conditions.
The Investing.com series of indexes is developed in-house. Each index measures overall exposure to major currency pairs, commodities and indexes, using data from futures exchanges and OTC providers on all long and short open positions.