Short Stocks: Bets build against health companies, CIT

NEW YORK Aug 11 (Reuters) - The following list shows short interest of some stocks in the news. Short sellers bet that a certain stock's price will fall, sometimes driven by key recent news events for those stocks. The data reflects short trades with a settlement date of July 30.

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PFIZER INC (PFE.N), MERCK & CO (MRK.N)

Short interest rose 6.7 percent in Pfizer and 5.3 percent for Merck.

Investors upped their bets that companies in the healthcare industry will fall as U.S. President Barack Obama continued with his plan to overhaul the country's healthcare system.

KEYCORP (KEY.N)

Short interest surged 44.3 percent.

At the end of July the Ohio-based regional bank reported a wider-than-expected loss as it increased its reserves to cover anticipated loan losses and tried to control costs by cutting jobs.

CIT GROUP (CIT.N)

Short interest gained 18.3 percent.

Short bets against the beleaguered lender rose as it struggled to avoid a bankruptcy filing and worked on its restructuring plan.

CIT lends to nearly a million small and mid-sized businesses and secured a $3 billion emergency loan from some of its major bondholders in July. (Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Leslie Adler)