Short selling: Which ASX stocks are investors covering and shorting? — Week 31

Welcome back to the Short Seller Series, where we recap the most shorted stocks on the ASX, along with those experiencing a notable rise and fall in short interest over the past week. 

Short selling data is four days behind today's date because reporting is not mandatory until three business days after the trade. The table below compares short interest changes between 19 July and 26 July.

Most shorted stocks

What’s changed

• Top ten most shorted stocks remain unchanged

• Core Lithium rises to #1 as Flight Centre drops to #2 

Where are shorts covering? 

Key themes

• Shares in Downer, AMA Group, Hansen Technologies and Adairs have all bounced strongly in the past month but are still negative year-to-date. The stocks are experiencing a slight pullback in short interest.

• Shorts in Sayona also eased as the stock hit levels not seen since July 2022.

Where are shorters going?

Key themes 

• Broad-based rise in short interest for lithium and battery metal-related shorts

  • Benchmark Minerals Intelligence reported a 4.4% decline in battery-grade lithium carbonate prices in China for the week ending 26 July due to a slowdown in purchases ad rise in domestic supply

• Regis Resources experienced a timely uptick in short interest

  • The mid-tier gold producer tumbled 19% last week after its FY24 guidance flagged below-consensus production at higher costs