Hedge funds accelerated the selloff to the highest since April 2025. Which stocks escaped the selloff

Hedge funds have sharply ramped up their selloff in global stocks, according to data from Goldman Sachs Bank's Prime Services Desk unit cited by Bloomberg. Net selling in the week ended Feb. 19 reached the fastest pace since April 2025, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced new duties and triggered a stock market crash.

The overall trading activity strengthened, but it was mainly facilitated by short selling, according to Goldman's note to clients, quoted by the agency. That is, funds were not just cutting positions, but betting on further market decline.

"Asset selling was seen in all major regions, with [anti]leaders being North America and Europe," the Goldman team wrote. According to their data, European equities experienced the fastest sell-off in five months - mainly due to a reduction in long positions.

Capital outflows were observed in seven out of 11 global sectors, with the financial sector taking the biggest hit. At the same time, energy, healthcare and consumer staples were among the leaders in terms of net purchases.

Bloomberg separately emphasizes that Goldman's statistics cover the period leading up to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to strike down a significant portion of Trump's duties and impose new 15 percent rates. However, the data reflect investors' growing doubts about the sustainability of the rally in growth-sensitive stocks, the agency points out. Mixed signals on the state of the economy and concerns around the impact of artificial intelligence have dampened bullish sentiment.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor