(Bloomberg) Bridgewater Associates has heightened short positions against European stocks, with bets of around $10.5 billion, compared to $5.7 billion last week.
ASML Holding NV, Sanofi, TotalEnergies, and SAP SE are among the shorts that Bridgewater holds, with more than $500 million bets against each. The firm has short-bets against 28 companies, up from 18 firms last week,
The shorts underline a bearish stance by the world’s biggest hedge fund amid slowing growth in the euro area and inflation which is running at record highs.
All the firms that Bridgewater holds short positions against are part of the Euro Stoxx 50 Index.
The bets happened a week after Bridgewater co-chief investment officer Greg Jensen, last week, said that the recent sell-off of stocks was small compared to the sky-high valuations of the decade. Jensen expects more sell-offs across Europe and the US.
Bridgewater is now holding one of the highest bearish bets on European stocks. The firm held $14 billion in shorts in 2020 and $22 billion in 2018. It is yet to be known if the bets are part of the fund’s hedging strategy or for profits.
Euro Stoxx 50 is down -0.50%.
