(Adds table, comment, details on dollar, euro, sterling, yen contracts)

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

July 22 (Reuters) - Speculators boosted their net long U.S. dollar position this week, to the highest since early June, as investors were encouraged by a spate of strong U.S. economic data that reinforces expectations of at least one interest rate hike in 2016.

The value of the dollar's net long position increased to $10.42 billion in the week ended July 19 from $8.01 billion the previous week, according to Reuters calculations and data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday.

Dollar net longs rose for a third straight week. Since the release of the strong U.S. nonfarm payrolls number on July 8, the dollar has gained nearly 2 percent.

"We have witnessed nine consecutive days of dollar buying per our iFlow U.S. dollar FX indicator," said Samarjit Shankar, head of iFlow and quant strategies at BNY Mellon in Boston.

"Whether this is sustained remains to be seen, but it is clear that the dollar's fortunes will have a major impact on central bank policies globally."

Speculators also raised sterling net shorts to 74,386 contracts in the latest week, the highest since June 2013, data showed.

The British pound has been hammered since the country's shock vote a month ago to exit the European Union. A slew of downbeat data such as the drop in manufacturing activity has weighed on sterling, prompting expectations of further easing.

Money markets now show markets pricing in chances of at least two rate cuts over the next six months.

Sterling fell 8 percent against the dollar in June and so far in July, the pound has lost another 1.6 percent.

Speculators, meanwhile, remained bearish on the euro, boosting net short contracts to 99,891. That's the largest short position on the euro since January.

Sentiment on the yen has also dipped a little bit, with long contracts falling a little bit to 39,353, the smallest since early June.

BNY's Shankar said the bank has seen yen net selling for eight straight days.

The Bank of Japan holds a monetary policy meeting next week and Shankar thinks the central bank will hold the "status quo" for now.

The Reuters calculation for the aggregate U.S. dollar position is derived from net positions of International Monetary Market speculators in the yen, euro, sterling, Swiss franc and Canadian and Australian dollars.

Japanese Yen (Contracts of 12,500,000 yen) $-5.677 billion

19 Jul 2016 Prior week

week Long 79,864 85,364 Short 40,511 37,819 Net 39,353 47,545

EURO (Contracts of 125,000 euros) $12.116 billion

19 Jul 2016 Prior week

week Long 111,578 107,635 Short 211,469 195,295 Net -99,891 -87,660

POUND STERLING (Contracts of 62,500 pounds sterling) $4.971 billion

19 Jul 2016 Prior week

week Long 27,959 39,999 Short 102,345 100,066 Net -74,386 -60,067

SWISS FRANC (Contracts of 125,000 Swiss francs) $-0.849 billion

19 Jul 2016 Prior week

week Long 23,191 23,330 Short 18,504 16,612 Net 4,687 6,718

CANADIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Canadian dollars) $-1.317 billion

19 Jul 2016 Prior week

week Long 43,086 39,963 Short 21,018 22,788 Net 22,068 17,175

AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 Aussie dollars) $-1.236 billion

19 Jul 2016 Prior week

week Long 61,642 45,938 Short 28,211 29,722 Net 33,431 16,216

MEXICAN PESO (Contracts of 500,000 pesos) $1.014 billion

19 Jul 2016 Prior week

week Long 24,675 28,648 Short 64,041 65,820 Net -39,366 -37,172

NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR (Contracts of 100,000 New Zealand dollars) $-0.074 billion

19 Jul 2016 Prior week

week Long 29,156 31,694 Short 26,983 30,683 Net 2,173 1,011

(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by James Dalgleish) ((gertrude.chavez@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-6322; Reuters Messaging: rm://gertrude.chavez.reuters.com@reuters.net))