Why this matters — Three distinct ORTEX data streams have shifted in the same direction for XLV, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF. Short interest, cost to borrow, and options sentiment have all moved sharply away from bearish positioning over a matter of days.
Short interest collapses. Short interest hit 3.24% of float on April 24. That marks a 21% single-day drop. Over one month, short interest is down 22.8%. Shares short fell from roughly 10.7 million to 8.4 million in a single session.
Cost to borrow fades. CTB stood at 0.45% on April 24, down 65.6% over the prior week. At its recent peak on March 23, CTB was 0.73%. Borrowing costs this low signal weak demand to establish or maintain short positions.
Options sentiment turns bullish. The put-call ratio dropped to 2.03 on April 24. That is 2.07 standard deviations below its 20-day mean of 2.46. The ratio hit a 52-week high of 2.67 just weeks ago. Fewer puts relative to calls reflects a meaningful shift in sentiment.
Utilisation has collapsed alongside the short interest data. It stood at just 8.91% on April 24 — down sharply from 30.35% on March 23 and a 52-week high of 94.45%. The ORTEX short score has also declined steadily, falling from 41.4 on April 13 to 33.4 on April 24. JPMorgan added 2.9 million shares as of December 31, 2025. UBS Asset Management and Harel Insurance both added over one million shares in the same period.
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