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At the start of each week, I like to look at ASIC's short position report to find out which shares are being targeted by short sellers.
This is because I believe it is well worth keeping a close eye on short interest levels as high levels can sometimes be a sign that something isn't quite right with a company.
With that in mind, here are the 10 most shorted shares on the ASX this week according to ASIC:
- Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) continues to be the most shorted ASX shares after its short interest increased week on week to 21.3%. Short sellers have been closing positions in the lithium industry but are not letting up on this miner.
- Syrah Resources Ltd (ASX: SYR) has short interest of 16.5%, which is down week on week again. Weak graphite prices have been weighing on this miner's performance.
- IDP Education Ltd (ASX: IEL) has 10.6% of its shares held short, which is up week on week. Regulatory changes have been weighing on this language testing and student placement company's shares.
- Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) has seen its short interest increase strongly to 9.8%. Short sellers have been loading up on the travel agent's shares since the release of its half-year results.
- Deep Yellow Limited (ASX: DYL) has seen its short interest ease slightly to 9.7%. Short sellers don't appear confident that uranium prices will be as strong as the market is predicting.
- Genesis Minerals Ltd (ASX: GMD) has seen its short interest rise to 9.5%. Short sellers are going after the gold miner despite the gold price hitting record highs last week. This may be due to concerns over integration risks from its recent acquisition spree.
- Australian Clinical Labs Ltd (ASX: ACL) has entered the top ten with short interest of 8.8%. A very poor performance so far in FY 2024 (80% profit decline) appears to have attracted short sellers.
- Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) has short interest of 8.3%, which is down sharply week on week. Short sellers have been lessening their exposure to the lithium industry following a rebound in Chinese prices.
- Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) is back in the top ten with short interest of 8%. Short sellers may have concerns over the development of the Kathleen Valley Lithium Project.
- Weebit Nano Ltd (ASX: WBT) has short interest of 7.8%, which is down slightly week on week. Valuation and revenue generation concerns are likely to be behind this.
