Hedge funds continued to ramp up their exposure to U.S. equities last week, marking the third straight week of net buying, according to Goldman Sachs’ Prime Brokerage desk. Long positions outweighed short selling by a ratio of roughly 1.5 to 1, reflecting steady demand as November approaches its end.
Goldman reported that overall trading activity remained high, with gross volumes still climbing. Flows in individual stocks pointed to ongoing sector rotation, as hedge funds increasingly shifted capital into health care, materials, and consumer discretionary names.
The bank’s traders highlighted a notable divergence within technology: “In contrast, Info Tech was the most $ net sold sector on Thursday, on the week, and in Nov MTD, as HFs have net sold the sector in 5 of the last 6 weeks,” they wrote.
Despite broad selling pressure across the tech sector, the market’s largest growth names continued to attract demand. The so-called Magnificent 7 stocks were collectively net bought last week, driven primarily by increased long positioning.
The pattern suggests funds are recalibrating their portfolios—paring back exposure to select technology stocks while expanding positions in other key sectors—as they prepare to close out the month and reassess risk heading into year-end.