Short sellers bets dip against S&P 500 financial stocks in August

Average short interest across S&P 500 financial (NYSEARCA:XLF) stocks dipped at the end of August after a moderate 4-basis-point drop in July.

The short interest fell to 1.98% in August, with the number of short interest shares in S&P 500 financials sector fell to 958.21M shares, down from 976.12M in July.

The S&P 500 financial index (SP500-40) was up 2.98% in the last month, compared to 1.91% gain recorded by S&P 500.

Short interest, which could be an indicator of pessimism, calculates the number of shares sold against the company float. (Short Interest % = Number of Shares Sold Short ÷ Stock Float).

Most shorted stocks:

Apollo Global Management (APO) – 7.41% vs 7.11% last month.

Erie Indemnity Company (ERIE) – 7.32% vs. 6.96%.

Franklin Resources (BEN) – 6.37% vs 7.30%.

Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) – 6.04% vs 6.05%.

Coinbase Global (COIN) – 5.74% vs 4.95%.

Least shorted stocks:

Mastercard (MA) – 0.72% vs 0.63% last month.

Chubb (CB) – 0.84% vs 0.76%.

Aon (AON) – 0.88% vs 1.44%.

JPMorgan (JPM) – 0.97% vs 0.83%.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) – 0.98% vs 0.87%.

Short Interest as per industry:

Financial Services was the most shorted industry with short interest of 2.30% followed by Capital Market short interest of 2.40%.

Insurance was the least shorted industry at 1.57% against 1.61% in the prior month.

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