Futures traders are betting for the first time since December 2005 that the dollar will gain against the euro.

The difference in the number of wagers by hedge funds and other large speculators on a decline in the euro compared with those on a gain, known as net shorts, was 21,315 on April 29, compared with net longs of 18,907 a week earlier, figures from the Washington-based Commodity Futures Trading Commission show.

``The dollar has already turned against the euro,'' said Benedikt Germanier, a currency strategist at UBS AG in Stamford, Connecticut. ``The dollar will go to $1.52 in a straight line.''

The dollar increased 0.3 percent to $1.5424 per euro at 5 p.m. in New York, from $1.5474 yesterday. It touched $1.5361, the highest level since March 24.

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The dollar rose 1.3 percent against the euro this week, its biggest rally since March, and has appreciated 3.6 percent from a record low of $1.6019 reached on April 22. It's the first time the dollar has posted two weeks of gains since December.

The currency rose after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates on April 30 and said ``substantial'' easing since September would help foster growth. The Labor Department reported today that U.S. employers eliminated fewer jobs in April than forecast, indicating the labor market is weathering the economic slowdown.

Payrolls shrank by 20,000 last month following a revised decline of 81,000 in March. The median forecast of 82 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a drop of 75,000.

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