Nikkei 225 short interest increases 14 September 2015London Reporter: Mark Dugdale
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Short sellers did not drive a recent one-day rise of Japan’s Nikkei 225, according to Markit.
The sharp one-day rise of the Nikkei 225 on 9 September was not the result of short sellers covering. According to Markit, securities finance data indicated that short interest actually increased.
In Japan so far this year, the value of short positions across single names has increased 18 percent to $33.45 billion. The Nomura Nikkei 225 Exchange-Traded Fund, meanwhile, sees minimal shorting activity.
Markit also found that ahead of the recent selloff, the Nikkei 225 was up 20 percent, in line with an increase in short sellers’ total value on loan, which has continued to increase over the last month, despite the index falling
Some 53 percent of Nikkei 225 firms have seen short interest rise over the past seven days, with the total average increasing to 2.1 percent.
The Retail, real estate, and technology hardware and equipment sectors contributed the greatest to the recent increase. Overall, the average short has trended materially higher over the last 12 months, rising from 1.47 percent to 2.1 percent.
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