By default, browsers will swap the number and sign due to the bidirectional algorithm. See an example below:
<div dir="rtl">-5</div>
To change this behavior in the markup, you can use the bdo element with ltr direction:
<div dir="rtl">
<bdo dir="ltr">-5</bdo>
</div>
If you're using Telerik and setting text for a column directly in the cell, consider setting ItemStyle.CssClass and HorizontalAlign="Right". Here's an example of a CSS class that achieves this:
<style type="text/css">
.myClass
{
direction:ltr;
}
</style>
<telerik:GridNumericColumn>
<ItemStyle CssClass="myClass" HorizontalAlign="Right"/>
</telerik:GridNumericColumn>
I have successfully implemented this technique in several projects.
For further reading on this subject, check out these resources: