Short sellers reduce bets against S&P 500 technology stocks in July

[stock market]
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Short sellers reduced their bets against the information technology sector in July. The sector that holds the highest weightage on the S&P had an average short interest of 1.77% in July, down from 1.89% in June.

The S&P 500’s information technology sector (NYSEARCA:XLK [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XLK]) has grown more than 15% so far this year, compared to an over 9% rise in the broader benchmark index.

Enphase Energy (ENPH [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ENPH]) was the most shorted stock in the sector in July, while Apple (AAPL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AAPL]) took the spot as the least shorted stock, same as last month.

STOCKS WITH THE LARGEST AND LEAST SHORT POSITIONS

_Ranked by short interest as a percentage of shares float_

Enphase Energy (ENPH [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ENPH]), Super Micro Computer (SMCI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SMCI]), and Western Digital (WDC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WDC]) were the top three most shorted stocks in July. Short interest in ENPH rose to 23.22% in July from 20.97% at the end of June.

While Super Micro Computer (SMCI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SMCI]) and Western Digital (WDC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WDC]) had short interests of 17.46% and 9.52%, respectively.

Apple (AAPL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AAPL]) was the least shorted stock in the sector last month, with a short interest of 0.71%, preceded by Microsoft (MSFT [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MSFT]) and NVIDIA (NVDA [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NVDA]), with short interests of 0.72% and 0.82%, respectively.

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

_Average short interest as a percentage of floating shares_

IT Services was the most shorted industry within the information technology sector, with 2.56% short interest in July, down from 2.78% in June.

Technology Hardware, Storage, and Peripherals was the second most shorted industry with 1.92% short interest as of July 31st, compared to 1.90% at the end of June.

Communications Equipment was the least shorted industry in the sector this month, with a short interest of 1.37%.

MORE ON TECHNOLOGY SECTOR:

* Tech ETF Showdown: XLK Vs. QQQ (The Winner May Surprise You) [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4801048-tech-etf-showdown-xlk-vs-qqq-the-winner-may-surprise-you]
* XLK: A Useful Hold, But Not My First Tech Allocation Today [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4798366-xlk-a-useful-hold-but-not-my-first-tech-allocation-today]
* XLK: A Pure Tech Play ETF [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4791810-xlk-a-pure-tech-play-etf]
* Overbought or Oversold? A sector-by-sector look at today’s market [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4484664-overbought-or-oversold-a-sector-by-sector-look-at-todays-market]
* BofA’s net buys flows: Biggest single stock inflows in 2 years; largest tech ETFs outflows last week [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4483994-bofa-s-net-buys-flows-biggest-single-stock-inflows-in-2-years-largest-tech-etfs-outflows-last]