Bears lose £420m on FTSE 100 in August
04 September 2020 London
Image: Andriy Blokhin/Adobe.com
Short positions against FTSE 100 companies lost £420 million in August according to Ortex Analytics which re-ranks the UK’s blue-chip index by short profit.
Nearly three-quarters of total short losses came from bets made against five companies: Ocado Group, InterContinental Hotels Group, International Consolidated Airlines Group, BHP Group and Pearson.
Cumulatively, short bets against these companies lost £310 million in August.
BHP Group was the FTSE 100’s most shorted stock in August, followed by Royal Dutch Shell, Just Eat, Ocado Group and Pearson.
Ortex data shows that short sellers only made profit on 32 companies out of the total 100 in the index, with Hargreaves Lansdown the most profitable target delivering £26 million in August.
Commenting on the analysis, Peter Hillerberg, co-founder of Ortex Analytics, says: “The FTSE 100 is often seen as a bellwether for investor confidence and understanding the interplay between share price performance and short profit gives a perspective on who is winning in the battle between the bulls and the bears.
Hillerberg tells SLT: "Market volatility is still being driven by the fall out of the pandemic as governments seek to balance the reopening of economies with keeping the virus contained.
“Whereas trends in government policy and consumer behaviour used to shift gradually over time, we're now seeing decisions being made in days or even hours and consumer confidence responding in turn; anybody who has tried to book a foreign holiday in August will have experienced this first hand.”
Nearly three-quarters of total short losses came from bets made against five companies: Ocado Group, InterContinental Hotels Group, International Consolidated Airlines Group, BHP Group and Pearson.
Cumulatively, short bets against these companies lost £310 million in August.
BHP Group was the FTSE 100’s most shorted stock in August, followed by Royal Dutch Shell, Just Eat, Ocado Group and Pearson.
Ortex data shows that short sellers only made profit on 32 companies out of the total 100 in the index, with Hargreaves Lansdown the most profitable target delivering £26 million in August.
Commenting on the analysis, Peter Hillerberg, co-founder of Ortex Analytics, says: “The FTSE 100 is often seen as a bellwether for investor confidence and understanding the interplay between share price performance and short profit gives a perspective on who is winning in the battle between the bulls and the bears.
Hillerberg tells SLT: "Market volatility is still being driven by the fall out of the pandemic as governments seek to balance the reopening of economies with keeping the virus contained.
“Whereas trends in government policy and consumer behaviour used to shift gradually over time, we're now seeing decisions being made in days or even hours and consumer confidence responding in turn; anybody who has tried to book a foreign holiday in August will have experienced this first hand.”
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