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By Nell Mackenzie
LONDON (Reuters) -Global hedge funds sold European stocks for the second straight week in a row with a focus on the region's financial, materials, energy and industrial companies, Goldman Sachs data for the week ending March 21 showed.
Hedge funds as a group have had more positions that European stocks would fall rather than rise in four of the last five weeks, the note said. A short bet is a wager that the value of an asset will decline.
Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, and UK were the most net sold markets last week, the bank's prime brokerage said in a private note to clients and seen by Reuters.
The short wagers were driven primarily by picking out single stocks rather than positions tracking broader stock indices.
Nine of 11 stock sectors were net sold on the week, led by building and construction materials-focused companies, as well as firms in the financials sector, Goldman Sachs said.
Crowded European short positions in February included asset manager Schroders as well as home improvement company, Kingfisher, data and tech firm Hazeltree said in a separate report published on March 19.
Hazeltree's report is based on data globally from about 700 asset management funds, it says.
Hedge funds have added to those bets against Schroders and Kingfisher this month, according to UK regulatory disclosures. Funds which have bet against Kingfisher in March include AKO Capital, Man Group, Kintbury Capital and Marshall Wace, the regulatory disclosures from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority show.
Kintbury Capital also opened a short bet against Schroders in March, according to the disclosures.
Energy firm Petrofac was listed by FCA disclosures as the UK-listed company with the largest short positions as a proportion of the company's outstanding stock. These were held by Helikon Investments and investment manager TFG Asset Management.
Kingfisher, Petrofac and Schroders declined to comment.
Among the hedge funds, Man Group and Marshall Wace declined to comment. AKO Capital, Helikon Investments, TFG Asset Management and Kintbury Capital did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Nell Mackenzie; Editing by Tommy Reggiori, Chizu Nomiyama, William Maclean)
