Question 1

What is short interest on the ASX?

Accepted Answer

Short interest represents the percentage of a company's shares that have been sold short but not yet covered. On the ASX, this data is reported bi-weekly by ASIC and indicates how many shares investors are betting will decline in value.

Question 2

How do I find short interest data for ASX stocks?

Accepted Answer

ASX short interest data can be tracked through ASX Short Data (asxshort.app), which provides real-time tracking of short positions, historical charts, daily short sales, and securities lending data for all ASX-listed companies. The data is sourced directly from ASIC reports.

Question 3

What is a high short interest percentage?

Accepted Answer

Generally, short interest above 10% is considered high, while anything above 20% is very high and may indicate potential short squeeze candidates. However, this varies by sector and market conditions. High short interest can signal either bearish sentiment or potential for a short squeeze.

Question 4

What is a short squeeze?

Accepted Answer

A short squeeze occurs when a heavily shorted stock's price rises rapidly, forcing short sellers to buy shares to cover their positions (close their shorts). This buying pressure can drive the price even higher, creating a feedback loop. Short squeezes often happen when short interest is high and positive news or buying pressure emerges.

Question 5

How often is ASX short interest data updated?

Accepted Answer

ASIC publishes aggregated short position data twice weekly (every Tuesday and Friday), while daily short sales transaction data is released the following day. ASX Short Data aggregates and updates this information daily to provide the most current view of short selling activity.

Question 6

What is the difference between short interest and daily short sales?

Accepted Answer

Short interest is the total number of shares currently sold short (open positions), reported bi-weekly. Daily short sales show the volume of short sale transactions on each trading day. High daily short sales may or may not increase total short interest, as some shorts may be covered on the same day (intraday shorting).

Question 7

Can I see which stocks have the highest short interest on the ASX?

Accepted Answer

Yes, ASX Short Data provides a ranked list of the most shorted ASX stocks updated daily. You can view top shorted stocks, biggest movers in short interest, squeeze candidates, and filter by sector or industry to find stocks with high short positions.

Question 8

What are securities lending positions?

Accepted Answer

Securities lending is when institutional investors lend their shares to short sellers (via intermediaries) in exchange for a fee. High lending activity and utilization rates (percentage of available shares already lent out) can indicate strong shorting demand and may precede increased short interest.

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