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UPDATE 1-U.S. dollar net long bets still elevated, steady from last week -CFTC, Reuters

(Adds table, details, analyst comment, bitcoin futures, details) By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. dollar net longs were little changed from the previous week, according to Reuters calculations and Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday, suggesting a still upbeat outlook on the greenback. The value of the net long dollar position was $22.52 billion in the week ended Oct. 12, from $22.89 billion in the previous week. U.S. dollar positioning has been net long for 13 straight weeks after being net short for 16 months. U.S. dollar positioning was derived from net contracts of International Monetary Market speculators in the Japanese yen, euro, British pound and Swiss franc, as well as the Canadian and Australian dollars. In a broader measure of dollar positioning, which includes net contracts on the New Zealand dollar, Mexican peso, Brazilian real and Russian rouble, the greenback posted a net long position of $22.197 billion this week, compared with $22.535 billion previously. "Speculative accounts sat back and consolidated positioning over the course of the past week, following the sharp increase in aggregate U.S. dollar long position seen in early October," Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist, at Scotiabank wrote after the CFTC report. "The trend reflected price action in the spot market over the past few days, with profit-taking and position-squaring dominating trading. Overall data show very little change in net exposure to the U.S. dollar, however. Investors are sticking with U.S. dollar longs by and large." The dollar has been mainly supported by expectations that the Federal Reserve will taper its asset purchases next month under the quantitative easing program. Tapering typically boosts the greenback, because as the Fed reduces asset purchases, there are less dollars sloshing around, boosting the currency's value. More importantly, traders in the rate futures market have started to price in a much earlier-than-expected rate hike by the Fed, as soon as September next year, because of surging U.S. inflation. Since early September, the dollar index has risen 2.1% . In the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin net shorts totaled 1,426 contracts in the week ended Oct. 12, from 1,518 net short contracts the previous week, CFTC data showed. On Friday, bitcoin topped $60,000 for the first time in six months, approaching its all-time peak, amid expectations that U.S. regulators would allow a futures-based exchange-traded fund (ETF), a move likely to open the path to wider investment in digital assets. The world's biggest cryptocurrency rose to $62,944.94, its highest since mid-April, and was last up 7.8% at $61,930.13. It has risen by more than half since Sept. 20 and is closing in on its record high of $64,895 hit in April. Japanese Yen (Contracts of 12,500,000 yen) $8.432 billion 12 Oct 2021 Prior week week Long 35,810 31,569 Short 112,444 95,263 Net -76,634 -63,694 EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros) $2.651 billion 12 Oct 2021 Prior week week Long 202,512 196,819 Short 220,910 219,153 Net -18,398 -22,334 POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling) $1.017 billion 12 Oct 2021 Prior week week Long 46,794 48,137 Short 58,773 68,155 Net -11,979 -20,018 SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs) $1.742 billion 12 Oct 2021 Prior week week Long 3,560 2,274 Short 16,532 17,953 Net -12,972 -15,679 CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars) $2.235 billion 12 Oct 2021 Prior week week Long 22,382 18,580 Short 50,242 45,446 Net -27,860 -26,866 AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Aussie dollars) $6.438 billion 12 Oct 2021 Prior week week Long 11,193 17,471 Short 98,801 107,450 Net -87,608 -89,979 MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos) $0.954 billion 12 Oct 2021 Prior week week Long 74,129 77,074 Short 113,763 112,653 Net -39,634 -35,579 NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 New Zealand dollars) $-0.606 billion 12 Oct 2021 Prior week week Long 20,467 17,887 Short 11,719 9,831 Net 8,748 8,056 (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Leslie Adler and Alistair Bell)