By Saqib Iqbal AhmedNEW YORK (Reuters) -Speculators' net long bets on the U.S. dollar edged higher in the latest week, according to calculations by Reuters and U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday.The value of the net long dollar position was $10.21 billion for the week ended Oct. 18, compared with a net long position of $9.33 billion last week.U.S. dollar positioning was derived from net contracts of International Monetary Market speculators in the Japanese yen, euro, British pound, Swiss franc, and Canadian and Australian dollars.CFTC data also showed Japanese yen net shorts increased in the latest week to 94,336 contracts, the largest short position since late May. Among the major currencies, the yen has struggled the most against the dollar as the Bank of Japan remains the only central bank that is not in a tightening mode. The yen has plummeted by nearly 22% against the dollar this year.Japanese authorities likely intervened in markets to stem the slide of the country’s battered currency on Friday, market participants said, following an unexpected jump in the yen against the dollar.Japanese Yen (Contracts of 12,500,000 yen)18 Oct 2022 Prior weekweekLong 30,583 30,149Short 124,919 107,542Net -94,336 -77,393EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros)18 Oct 2022 Prior weekweekLong 202,703 196,136Short 154,553 158,637Net 48,150 37,499POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling)18 Oct 2022 Prior weekweekLong 40,328 48,979Short 91,539 88,149Net -51,211 -39,170SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs)18 Oct 2022 Prior weekweekLong 7,052 5,501Short 14,138 11,391Net -7,086 -5,890CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars)18 Oct 2022 Prior weekweekLong 35,384 32,476Short 55,957 58,148Net -20,573 -25,672AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Aussie dollars)18 Oct 2022 Prior weekweekLong 33,046 29,325Short 68,405 60,596Net -35,359 -31,271MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos)18 Oct 2022 Prior weekweekLong 133,432 120,239Short 155,726 153,893Net -22,294 -33,654NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 New Zealand dollars)18 Oct 2022 Prior weekweekLong 10,328 11,894Short 28,773 30,936Net -18,445 -19,042 Investing.com