Short Monitor – Cineworld and Sainsbury’s highly shorted in Covid’s August

We have looked at shorting activity in the UK market throughout August in the latest update of our short monitor, which includes a new chart showing the top 20 UK companies that have had the greatest m-o-m increases in the amount of ISC on borrow. Sainsbury’s ​saw the greatest m-o-m increase in the UK Top Total UK Shorts chart, up 2.06% in August. ITV ​was the only UK company which had a greater m-o-m increase at 2.89%, bringing the total short percentage in ITV to 3.68%.

Looking at the UK Top Total UK Shorts chart, Hammerson is the most shorted stock in the UK for the third month in a row. However, the amount of its ISC on borrow fell by 0.4% since end-July. Cineworld is now the second most shorted stock in the UK, up from fifth at end-July, with shorts increasing by 0.5% to 9.09%. Capita ​is the only new addition to the UK Top Total UK Shorts chart (18th), with its total short position increasing by 0.6% to 4.44%.