USD net longs reached the peak since last March, Fed minutes and retail sales data to be watched in this week

USD net longs rose last week to the peak since last March, according to Reuters calculations. The total value of the net long position rose to $3.08 billion last week, compared with $2.11 billion a week ago. The net long position was calculated from contracts between USD and a number of major currency pairs, including JPY, EUR GBP, CHF, CAD, and AUD.

During this week, investors will be looking to the Fed’s meeting minutes, to be released on Wednesday. The market is waiting for signals on the monetary policy direction. Moreover, the US retail sales data will also be released. The forecast is at -0.2%, with a major decline from the auto industry. Moreover, China will also publish its retail sales, and economists are also expecting a slowdown in the recovery.