The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 14, 2024
1 Apr 2024 — 5 Apr 2024
PLS stayed the ASX’s most shorted stock at 20.49% (-0.10%), but the week’s fresh aggression hit consumer-facing names. FLT jumped to 10.92% short (+1.03%) and IEL climbed to 15.00% (+0.95%). The cleanest tell of the week was on the other side: SLC was almost fully covered, 2.60% → 0.21% (-2.39%).
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
Lithium is still crowded, but it stopped getting louder. The noise moved to the Aussie wallet: shorts added hard to Flight Centre (10.92%, +1.03%) and kept leaning on IDP Education (15.00%, +0.95%).
PLS remains the market’s biggest short at 20.49% after a marginal -0.10% WoW move. That’s a huge position, but this week it read more like “hold the line” than “press the bet”. IEL is now firmly #2 at 15.00% (+0.95%). This is where policy and demand risk meet: international student flows can turn quickly when visa settings tighten and affordability bites. SYR (14.19%, +0.53%) stayed a high-conviction short. At a $295M market cap, it doesn’t take much incremental selling to keep pressure on sentiment. FLT (10.92%, +1.03%) was the standout in the top 10 and the biggest riser overall. A full percentage point of new short interest in a week is a statement: funds are challenging the idea that leisure and corporate travel can keep shrugging off cost-of-living pressure. FLT’s recent move to acquire Iglu Cruise adds integration risk at the same time the market is getting pickier about cyclicals. The battery-metals cluster is still thick: LTR (10.11%, +0.03%), CXO (8.36%, -0.09%) and SYA (7.13%, -0.05%). Even where shorts eased (CXO, SYA), the positioning says the sector is still treated as “sell rallies” until pricing and demand signals improve. Rounding out the list: GMD (7.66%, -0.08%), LIC (7.25%, +0.25%) and WBT (7.12%, -0.07%).
Key financial metrics from recent company reports for the most shorted stocks.
Stocks with the largest increase in short interest this week.
Stocks with the largest decrease in short interest this week.
This week’s risers were a neat map of what the market wants to fade. • FLT: 9.90% → 10.92% (+1.03%). Discretionary spending risk, with travel an easy place to express it. • IEL: 14.05% → 15.00% (+0.95%). Policy sensitivity plus demand uncertainty. • RFF: 1.29% → 2.16% (+0.88%). A meaningful jump for an ag REIT — classic rate/valuation pressure. • GWA: 0.80% → 1.55% (+0.75%). Building-linked exposure getting tagged. • BLD: 3.72% → 4.32% (+0.60%). Another vote that construction demand softens when rates stay restrictive. Then the covers. SLC was the week’s exclamation mark: 2.60% → 0.21% (-2.39%). That’s not trimming. That’s getting out of the way. CUV also saw real covering (5.40% → 4.08%, -1.32%), and CHN eased (6.99% → 6.00%, -0.99%). ACL ticked down too (7.06% → 6.33%, -0.73%), consistent with shorts reallocating away from defensives and back into macro-sensitive targets.
The tape split cleanly. Materials: still dominates the top 10 (PLS, SYR, LTR, CXO, GMD, SYA, CHN nearby), but the big lithium short didn’t expand this week. Crowded, yes. Accelerating, no. Consumer Services: where the new money went. FLT and IEL both added close to a full percentage point in a week — the market’s simplest expression of “higher-for-longer squeezes demand”. Rates and housing sensitivity: RFF, GWA and BLD all saw shorts build. Different industries, same trade — lean into anything where valuation and activity depend on easier financial conditions. Market-wide, the average short position sat at 1.02% across 678 stocks, with the period average change at -0.00%. Translation: the index-level picture was flat, but the stock-level rotation was sharp.
Watch next week’s follow-through in FLT: if short interest keeps climbing from 10.92%, the market is doubling down on the discretionary slowdown trade. If it stalls while PLS stays pinned near 20.49%, the rotation has already run its first leg.
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) at 20.49% short, down -0.10% week-on-week.
Flight Centre (FLT), up +1.03% from 9.90% to 10.92% short.
Both are demand-sensitive. FLT is exposed to discretionary travel spend, while IEL is exposed to international student volumes and policy settings; both get hit when the market prices “higher-for-longer” rates and weaker confidence.
It’s aggressive short covering — a near-total exit in a single week, usually triggered when the risk/reward flips and shorts don’t want to stay in front of a potential upward move.
Yes. PLS (20.49%), LTR (10.11%), CXO (8.36%) and SYA (7.13%) remain heavily shorted, even though week-on-week moves were small.
Track the live rankings on the most shorted ASX stocks page, watch short squeeze candidates, or see market-wide totals in the ASX short selling statistics.
Data sourced from ASIC short position reports (T+4 delayed). This report is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Short selling data may not reflect real-time market conditions.
