Wall Street slide nets short sellers $127 billion

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Short sellers targeting U.S. companies have gained $127 billion on paper from April 2 through Monday after President Donald Trump’s plans for sweeping tariffs sparked a sharp selloff in stocks, according to data and analytics company Ortex Technologies.

The data, for U.S. companies with market capitalization $1 billion and greater, showed short sellers’ gains for 2025 through Monday at $189 billion.

Short sellers aim to profit by selling borrowed shares and buying them back later at a lower price.

These bearish investors profited since April 2 as Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs against U.S. trading partners set off a plunge of roughly $5 trillion in market value for the S&P 500 index .

Short interest for various stock indexes from around the globe increased rapidly from March 31 and peaked on April 4 before starting to drop, data from Ortex showed.

Falling short interest typically indicates investors growing less bearish as well as profit-taking.

"It seems fair to say that some short sellers seem to be looking to lock in their gains," Ortex cofounder Peter Hillerberg said.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 2.8% in late morning trade.