• Jan 12, 2025

Hedge funds increased bearish bets ahead of Friday's blowout US jobs report, banks say

Global hedge funds added more bets against U.S. stocks over the last week through Jan 9, ahead of a blowout U.S. jobs report that sparked a sell-off on Wall Street, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs said in notes on Friday. The U.S. Labor Department's closely watched employment report on Friday showed job growth accelerated to 256,000 jobs in December, the most since March, while the unemployment fell to 4.1%. Morgan Stanley said portfolio managers increased shorts - or bets stocks will fall - in sectors such as staples, software, financials and healthcare in the days ahead of the jobs report, while they sold long positions in communication services.