The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 49, 2024
2 Dec 2024 — 6 Dec 2024
The week’s standout move wasn’t an equity at all: GSBW34 short interest surged 14.43% to 132.51%, dwarfing everything else on the ASX short tape. In equities, uranium stayed crowded (PDN 15.82%, BOE 14.36%) while shorts leaned harder into lithium via PLS (+0.79% to 12.43%) and MIN (+0.43% to 12.41%). The other eye-catcher was APA, where shorts more than doubled from 3.02% to 6.33% (+3.31%) — a big swing for a defensive utility.
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
GSBW34 printing 132.51% short after a +14.43% weekly jump is the kind of number that stops you mid-scroll. Whatever the mechanics behind that instrument’s borrow and settlement, the message is clear: there’s aggressive positioning around long-end rates. When bond shorts are moving like this, it usually bleeds into equity factor trades too — duration-sensitive defensives get questioned, and highly valued growth names can wobble if yields back up.
On the equity side, the ASX short book is still dominated by two themes: uranium and lithium. Uranium remains a crowded trade. PDN sits at 15.82% short (+0.76% WoW) and BOE at 14.36% (+0.07%). That’s not a gentle scepticism — that’s a proper line in the sand. The most likely read is shorts are fading the sector’s momentum and/or positioning for operational execution risk as producers ramp (BOE’s Honeymoon ramp is the obvious focal point). DYL is also in the top 10 at 10.58% (+0.22%), which fits the same playbook: uranium exposure, development timelines, and the market’s habit of punishing any schedule slip. Lithium is the other big bucket. PLS is 12.43% short after a chunky +0.79% weekly lift, while MIN is 12.41% (+0.43%) and LTR is 9.68% (+0.22%). Shorts are basically saying the lithium price pain isn’t done, and that balance sheets/cost curves will matter more than “EV demand” narratives. SYR (13.19%, -0.05%) is still heavily shorted too — the slight dip doesn’t change the fact the market remains wary. Outside resources, IEL (12.85%, -0.08%) and DMP (11.00%, +0.33%) stay in the crosshairs. For DMP, this looks like classic consumer discretionary positioning: cost pressures, competitive intensity, and the risk that value-conscious customers trade down if rates stay restrictive.
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.
The risers tell you where conviction is building. APA is the cleanest equity signal this week: 3.02% to 6.33% (+3.31%). That’s unusual for a large, defensive infrastructure name. The likely driver is rate sensitivity — if the bond market is getting jumpy (see GSBW34), yield-style stocks can get repriced quickly. Shorts may also be positioning into regulatory and earnings scrutiny typical for utilities when the macro turns. 29M lifted from 4.36% to 5.44% (+1.08%). That reads like commodity-cycle scepticism: copper and zinc equities can look fine on volume headlines, but shorts tend to press when they think prices, costs, or funding risk will do the damage later. CKF moved 0.88% to 1.90% (+1.02%). That’s not a huge absolute short, but the change is sharp — and it fits a broader “consumer is slowing” trade. DRO also saw shorts add (3.40% to 4.30%, +0.90%), which often happens when a high-multiple defence tech name runs ahead of near-term contract timing. On the cover side, PLL collapsed from 2.40% to 0.32% (-2.07%). That’s a decisive unwind — either the easy money on the downside has been made, or there’s a catalyst risk shorts don’t want to wear. IDX (4.71% to 3.53%, -1.18%) and PME (2.04% to 1.11%, -0.93%) also saw meaningful covering, which lines up with healthcare being treated as a safer place to hide if macro volatility picks up. SHV eased from 3.49% to 2.69% (-0.79%), suggesting less appetite to press the short in an agri/food name into year-end.
Zooming out, the tape is split between “rates” and “resources”. The bond short spike (GSBW34) is the loudest macro tell in the dataset, and it helps explain why APA suddenly attracted short interest: defensives aren’t immune when duration gets repriced. In resources, the clustering is obvious. Lithium shorts are spread across PLS, MIN and LTR, while uranium shorts are concentrated in PDN, BOE and DYL. That’s sector-level positioning rather than company-specific sniping — and it means any sharp move in the underlying commodities can force fast covering. The average short across the market is only 1.37% (period average change +0.03%), so these double-digit shorts are where the real crowding — and the real squeeze risk — sits.
Next week, watch whether the rate trade keeps running (GSBW34 is the canary) and whether that drags more shorts into yield-sensitive ASX defensives like APA. In crowded commodities (uranium and lithium), any price spike or operational update can trigger violent short-covering simply because positioning is already heavy.
It can happen when the same security is borrowed and re-lent multiple times, creating more short positions than the free float/available units measured in the calculation.
Uranium (PDN 15.82%, BOE 14.36%, DYL 10.58%) and lithium/materials (PLS 12.43%, MIN 12.41%, LTR 9.68%, SYR 13.19%) dominate the top end of the list.
Yes — a +3.31% weekly move in a large utility is a sharp change in positioning and usually reflects a macro view (rates/duration) rather than a small stock-specific trade.
It suggests shorts are exiting quickly — either because the downside trade is crowded and done, or because there’s catalyst risk that makes staying short unattractive.
No. High short interest means there’s strong negative positioning, but it also increases squeeze risk if news or commodity prices move the other way.
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.
