/biz/ - Business & Finance

>Speculative traders are ramping up their bullish bets on the greenback. Net long non-commercial positions in futures linked to the ICE US Dollar Index surged to the highest in five years, according to the latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. The Federal Reserve’s most aggressive rate hike in two decades has emboldened dollar bulls with the central bank vowing last week that its fight to restore price stability is “unconditional.” Despite the European Central Bank’s recent Road to Damascus hawkish shift, it is still among the most dovish central banks in the Group-of-10 currency basket, second only to the Bank of Japan. With the euro close to 60% of the greenback gauge and the yen another 14%, that’s enough of a divergence to keep the positive dollar sentiment intact for now. Bulls also have the natural hedge of the dollar smile to give them comfort behind their wagers -- its history as a haven should fears of a policy error push risk assets into another selloff.