Hedge funds’ bets on software companies hit record lows, Morgan Stanley says

By Carolina Mandl

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global hedge funds’ exposure to software stocks in the U.S. reached “new multi-year lows” last week after a broader sell-off in the technology sector, Morgan Stanley said in a note.

“Software was the most net-sold, which continues the streak of net selling in the space since late-April and brings exposures to new multi-year lows,” the bank said.

A stock rally driven by a few tech stocks has raised concerns among some investors that gains could evaporate if the sentiment around them changes.

Morgan Stanley, which tracks hedge funds’ flows through clients of its prime brokerage unit, said that overall portfolio managers were net sellers of equities last week in the U.S., Europe and Asia, ex-Japan.

Despite some volatility on Thursday, when data showed U.S. consumer prices fell in June for the first time in four years, hedge funds net-sold equities every day in the week ended on June 11.

Last week, the S&P North American Technology Software Index fell roughly 2%, but is still up 8.8% year to date. It includes companies such as Adobe (NASDAQ:), Salesforce (NYSE:), Microsoft (NASDAQ:) and Oracle (NYSE:).

Outside the technology, media and telecommunications sector, hedge funds also ditched cyclical stocks, which swing in accordance with the economic cycle.