Short sellers fighting shy

Only seven major short positions were declared yesterday on financial stocks, and only two of those were on the major banks, according to Reuters research.

The biggest was a 0.79% short position in Lloyds Banking Group by US hedge fund Paulson & Co. London-based Lansdowne said it took a 0.26% short position in Barclays on Monday.

When the FSA lifted the ban, it required all investors with a short position of over 0.25% to declare their positions within 24 hours.