The 10 Most Shorted ASX Stocks · Week 5, 2024
29 Jan 2024 — 2 Feb 2024
PLS is still the ASX’s most shorted stock at 20.46% (down 0.38% WoW), but the week’s real move was CHN, where shorts jumped from 6.97% to 9.27% (+2.29%). SYR also tightened the screws, rising from 16.93% to 18.43% (+1.50%), keeping battery materials at the centre of the short book.
By Shorted AI Research · Published · Sourced from official ASIC short position reports (T+4 delay). Methodology · Not financial advice.
PLS at 20.46% short is the headline you already know. The trade that actually moved this week was CHN: shorts piled in by 2.29% in five trading days (6.97% → 9.27%). That’s not portfolio housekeeping. That’s a view.
1) PLS (20.46%, -0.38%) Still the most shorted name on the ASX, but the slight trim reads like crowding rather than fresh conviction. The lithium price tape remains the anchor for the bear case, yet at 20.46% the register is already packed with shorts. 2) SYR (18.43%, +1.50%) This is the opposite of PLS: shorts are still adding at an already elevated base. A +1.50% weekly lift (16.93% → 18.43%) signals the market is leaning into operational and funding sensitivity in battery materials. 3) CXO (12.62%, -0.34%) and 4) SYA (11.65%, +0.16%) Lithium positioning is splitting. CXO saw modest covering while SYA edged higher, a familiar pattern when the market differentiates between “already punished” and “still vulnerable” parts of the complex. 5) IEL (10.19%, -0.15%) A small cover, but the base is still heavy. At 10.19% short, the market is still pricing policy and student-mobility risk into the education trade. 6) CHN (9.27%, +2.29%) The standout. When a stock jumps from 6.97% to 9.27% short in a week, the market is doing project maths, not vibes. CHN has been pushing the Gonneville Project forward through study work and investor materials (see the Gonneville Project – Pre-Feasibility Study Presentation: https://chalicemining.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/61302010.pdf). Shorts are positioning against the classic development-phase pinch points: capex, timelines, and how forgiving commodity assumptions are when the market wants harder numbers. 7) GMD (9.16%, +0.13%) A steady, high short in a large gold name. No drama this week, but 9.16% says the market is still happy to run a meaningful hedge even with gold’s defensive appeal. 8) DYL (8.88%, +0.06%) Uranium shorts held their ground. No rush to cover, no stampede to add. 9) WBT (8.78%, +0.17%) A slight lift keeps WBT in the top-10. High short interest here is a reminder that long-duration growth stories still get tested when the market is picky on valuation. 10) FLT (8.40%, +0.08%) Shorts remain sticky. The travel trade is still being treated as cost-of-living sensitive, and the position hasn’t been abandoned.
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.
Biggest risers - CHN: 6.97% → 9.27% (+2.29%) The week’s cleanest signal. A move this sharp is usually catalyst-driven positioning: traders leaning into development risk and the cost/commodity squeeze that can hit long-dated projects. - DVP: 0.65% → 2.17% (+1.52%) A meaningful jump off a low base. This is how shorts start a position when they want optionality around execution and cyclical base-metal sentiment. - SYR: 16.93% → 18.43% (+1.50%) Reinforces that the market’s favourite hunting ground is still battery materials with operating leverage. - SVL: 0.65% → 1.77% (+1.12%) and GLN: 0.96% → 1.91% (+0.95%) Classic small-cap resources behaviour: thinner liquidity, faster swings in positioning. Biggest fallers - TOE: 2.28% → 0.07% (-2.22%) That’s a position being shut, not a gentle change of mind. - MP1: 3.08% → 2.01% (-1.07%) Real covering. With shorts stepping back here, the risk shifts from “press the downside” to “don’t get caught if the tape turns”. (See MP1’s H1 FY25 Half Year Investor Presentation: https://www.megaport.com/pdf/MP1_H1_FY25_Half_Year_Results_Investor_Presentation.pdf) - CTD: 2.56% → 2.06% (-0.51%) A small de-risk. The travel-services short case didn’t get fresh momentum this week. - AVL: 0.48% → 0.02% (-0.46%) and BET: 2.91% → 2.50% (-0.41%) Tidying up lower-conviction positions.
This week’s book is still a resources story, but with a twist. Lithium remains the crowded centre: PLS (20.46%), CXO (12.62%) and SYA (11.65%) sit in the top 10, and GLN also saw shorts add (to 1.91%). The message is simple: rallies in the complex are still being sold. But the more surprising action was rotation into development and build-risk exposure. CHN’s surge to 9.27% shows the market is targeting projects where valuation leans on future studies, future funding and commodity assumptions that can move against you. Outside resources, the consumer names are steady rather than explosive: IEL at 10.19% (slightly lower) and FLT at 8.40% (slightly higher). Shorts aren’t sprinting for the exits, but they’re not pressing hard either.
Watch CHN next week: after a +2.29% jump to 9.27% short, any project update or market reaction to study work is where the squeeze risk (or the next leg of piling-in) sits. If CHN short interest lifts again from here, it confirms the market is turning “development risk” into the trade of the month.
Pilbara Minerals (PLS) at 20.46% short, down 0.38% week-on-week.
Chalice Mining (CHN): 6.97% to 9.27%, up 2.29% week-on-week.
Yes. PLS (20.46%), CXO (12.62%) and SYA (11.65%) are in the top 10 most shorted, and Galan Lithium (GLN) also rose to 1.91% short (+0.95%).
Toro Energy (TOE) fell from 2.28% to 0.07% (-2.22%), and Megaport (MP1) fell from 3.08% to 2.01% (-1.07%).
684 stocks are shorted, with an average short position of 1.06%.
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.
