Main US indexes slide >2%
All S&P 500 sectors red: Materials weakest group, Energy off least
Euro STOXX 600 index down >3%
Dollar rallies; crude surges ~8%; bitcoin falls >2%; gold down >4%
US 10-Year Treasury yield edges up to ~4.07%
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BEARISH BETS AGAINST US SOFTWARE FIRMS AT HIGHEST SINCE 2008 CRISIS, DEUTSCHE BANK SAYS
Bearish bets against the U.S. software sector stood at their highest since the 2008 financial crisis, according to a Deutsche Bank report that underscored growing investor pessimism toward the sector amid worries of AI-led disruptions.
The median short interest across software companies has spiked to over 5%, the highest level since the financial crisis in 2008-09, when it peaked at over 9%, the bank said in a note.
Software stocks have been hit hard recently with the S&P 500 software and services index .SPLRCIS sliding more than 20% so far this year.
Worries about AI disruption came to the fore after AI developer Anthropic in February launched plug-ins for its Claude Cowork agent that would automate tasks across legal, sales, marketing and data analysis.
The software index has been trading below its 200-day moving average $(DMA)$, underscoring persistent bearish sentiment and a weak long‑term trend since the start of the year.
It even formed a "death cross" in mid-January, with the 50-DMA falling below the 200-day, signaling the selloff could deepen.
The recent quarterly earnings season also failed to offer any respite to the beaten-down sector, with dour forecasts from Salesforce CRM.N, Workday WDAY.O and Germany's SAP SAPG.DE.
However, Deutsche Bank strategists flagged that consensus expectations for the sector's earnings growth have been strong of late, but it is expected to slow down by the fourth quarter of 2026.
(Shashwat Chauhan)
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