The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 27, 2024
1 July 2024 — 5 July 2024
PLS is still the ASX’s most shorted stock at 20.78%, but the position was cut again (-0.44% WoW). The week’s cleanest tell was CHN: shorts jumped +1.18% to 10.38% as the market pressed project-risk in resources. Outside the top 10, shorts piled into NHC (+1.48% to 3.41%) and CTT (+0.87% to 7.90%), while they bailed hard from ZIP (-1.55% to 1.78%) and GYG (-1.40% to 0.45%).
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
The lithium short is still the biggest trade in town — but the crowd is starting to shuffle its feet. PLS sits at 20.78% short (still the max on the ASX), yet it was trimmed again (-0.44% WoW). Meanwhile CHN wore a fresh 1.18% wave of shorting to 10.38%. Same sector. Very different intent.
PLS (20.78%, -0.44%) remains the market’s easiest, most liquid way to stay short lithium. The repeated nibble of covering doesn’t change the ranking — it reads like risk control in a crowded position, not a change in view. IEL (12.84%, -0.14%) stays pinned near the top with only a small move. The short case is structural: international student policy risk and the sensitivity of earnings to shifts in student flows. LTR (10.46%, -0.70%) saw meaningful covering. Shorts are still heavy, but this week looked like trimming rather than a new attack. FLT (10.41%, +0.19%) edged higher. Travel remains a clean expression of discretionary pressure when households are forced to prioritise essentials. CHN (10.38%, +1.18%) was the standout move inside the top 10. Shorts don’t add +1.18% in a week by accident. This is the market leaning into development risk — timelines, capex and economics — right as Gonneville’s work program stays front and centre (see CHN’s Gonneville Project – Pre-Feasibility Study Presentation: https://chalicemining.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/61302010.pdf). ACL (10.04%, +0.76%) also drew fresh heat. When a defensive name gets shorted this hard, it’s usually about margins and volumes, not demand collapsing. ACL’s push into digital workflows is real (eHealth brochure: https://www.clinicallabs.com.au/media/4978/ehealth-a4-brochure-2022-aclmar-bf-nat-04236-digital.pdf), but the short tape is asking where the earnings leverage lands. Rounding out the top 10: SYR (10.14%, -0.10%) barely moved; WGX (9.55%, +0.31%) ticked up; SYA (8.93%, +0.02%) was flat; STX (8.56%, +0.78%) jumped.
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.
NHC was the week’s biggest riser: 1.94% → 3.41% (+1.48%). That’s a real repositioning. With NHC leaning into capital returns (DRP rules: https://newhopegroup.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/20250916-NHC-ASX-Dividend-Reinvestment-Plan-Rules.pdf), the short bet reads as “coal cashflows are peaking” rather than “coal is dead”. CHN (9.20% → 10.38%, +1.18%) was the other big statement move — a straight press on project uncertainty. MRM (0.07% → 1.07%, +0.99%) is small in absolute terms, but the jump is sharp. Offshore services sentiment can turn quickly when energy capex expectations wobble. CTT (7.03% → 7.90%, +0.87%) pulled in more shorts as discretionary retail stays in the crosshairs. STX (7.78% → 8.56%, +0.78%) was another aggressive add. Strike’s mix of energy, renewables and fertiliser gives it upside narratives — and plenty of execution points for shorts to target. On the cover side, ZIP (3.33% → 1.78%, -1.55%) was the cleanest unwind of the week. That’s consistent with shorts banking profit and stepping away from event risk around security changes (cessation notice: https://yourir.info/ezapi/announcements/dbc6d3e76afbc820/2A1648337/ZIP_Notification_of_cessation_of_securities_ZIP.pdf). GYG (1.85% → 0.45%, -1.40%) looks like early post-listing probing being closed out. FFX (1.75% → 0.62%, -1.13%), LKE (1.77% → 0.97%, -0.80%) and DYL (5.50% → 4.72%, -0.78%) all saw covering — a sign the market is less keen to press some of the more crowded commodity shorts right here.
This week’s short book still screams “resources first”. Six of the top 10 are Materials (PLS, LTR, CHN, SYR, WGX, SYA), and the biggest internal rotation was telling: trimming in the mega-liquid lithium proxy (PLS -0.44%) while pressing harder in a higher-argument development story (CHN +1.18%). Outside the pit, the shorts are picking at cost-of-living pressure points: FLT at 10.41% (+0.19%) and CTT at 7.90% (+0.87%). And in Health Care, ACL’s move to 10.04% (+0.76%) says the market is treating pathology as a margin story, not a safety trade. Zooming out, the market isn’t turning into a blanket short-fest. Across 654 stocks, average short interest is 1.11% and the period average change was -0.00%. This is targeted aggression, not panic.
Watch CHN and ACL next week: after moves of +1.18% and +0.76%, any company update that shifts timelines, costs or margins will hit a tightly wound short base fast.
PLS is the most liquid way to express a bearish lithium price view on the ASX, so it attracts large, persistent short positions; this week’s -0.44% move was trimming, not a trend break.
Yes. A +1.18% WoW lift to 10.38% is a decisive add and typically reflects event positioning around project economics, capex and timeline risk (see CHN’s Gonneville PFS presentation: https://chalicemining.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/61302010.pdf).
It was a sharp de-risking move (-1.55%) consistent with shorts taking profit and reducing exposure around corporate/security changes (e.g., ZIP cessation notice: https://yourir.info/ezapi/announcements/dbc6d3e76afbc820/2A1648337/ZIP_Notification_of_cessation_of_securities_ZIP.pdf).
High short interest in pathology usually targets earnings quality — margin pressure, volume normalisation and competition — rather than a collapse in demand; ACL’s digital workflow push is documented in its eHealth materials (https://www.clinicallabs.com.au/media/4978/ehealth-a4-brochure-2022-aclmar-bf-nat-04236-digital.pdf).
The move from 1.94% to 3.41% (+1.48%) reads as a cycle call: traders leaning against coal-linked cashflows and the durability of capital returns flagged in NHC’s DRP documentation (https://newhopegroup.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/20250916-NHC-ASX-Dividend-Reinvestment-Plan-Rules.pdf).
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.
