Dollar bearish bets slipped after Biden’s inauguration

US dollar short bets increase paused with net short bets inching down to $34.40 billion from $34.48 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 January 26 and released on January 29. The dollar sentiment was essentially unchanged with increase in bullish bets on euro and Canadian dollar overshadowed by decreases in Pound and Australian dollar bullish bets as the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged but said it stands ready to act. The increase in dollar bearish bets paused following Joe Biden’s inauguration and Markit report US Manufacturing PMI rose to 59.1 month for January from 57.1 the previous month, with services sector also accelerating its expansion. Readings above 50.0 indicate industry expansion, below indicate contraction. However, US Labor Department reported 900 thousand Americans sought unemployment benefits over the last week, down from 926 thousand the previous week.