Short sellers targeting regional bank stocks up $1 billion -Ortex (updated)

Signature Bank

02/02/2024 18:23

(Adds details on short sellers in paragraphs 3-5)
       NEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Short sellers targeting
shares of a group of U.S. regional banks, including New York
Community Bancorp  NYCB.N , were up about $1.04 billion in paper
profits over the last two sessions, according to data and
analytics company Ortex.
    New York Community Bancorp, down about 40% since Tuesday's
close of trading after announcing a surprise loss and a 70%
divided cut, accounted for about $122 million of those gains.
    Short sellers aim to profit by selling borrowed shares and
buying them back later at a lower price. 
    About 3.6% of New York Community Bancorp's free float is
sold short, according to Ortex data, little changed over the
last two days and slightly below the 3-month average of 4.18%.
    During last year's regional banking crisis short sellers
targeted shares of banks including First Republic Bank, Silicon
Valley Bank  SIVBV.UL  and Signature Bank  SBNY.PK , possibly
exacerbating share price declines.

 (Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
 ((saqib.ahmed@thomsonreuters.com; @SaqibReports; +1 332 219
1971; Reuters Messaging:
saqib.ahmed.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))