The chances of GBP/USD bucking its historically negative August trend already look poor - which is bad news for speculators who raised their sterling bets to a record high in July.

August has been the weakest month of the year for the pound against the dollar on average over the past 50 years, when it has lost an average of 0.7%.

GBP/USD is currently trading more than 0.7% below its 1.2850 end-July level, having plumbed a one-month low of 1.2708 on Friday.

The pound's weakness at the start of the new month is due to Thursday's interest rate cut from the Bank of England, and heavy global stock losses (GBP is risk-sensitive, while the dollar is a safer-haven).

CFTC data on FX positioning showed the net GBP long soared from 44,048 contracts to 142,183 contracts in the four weeks to July 23.

Related comment: nL1N3JL0AY

For more click on FXBUZ