Short Stocks: Bets build against tech, pharma in early June

NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - Short interest rose slightly in early-June on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, the exchanges said on Wednesday, suggesting an increase in bearish sentiment in the stock market.

Technology and pharmaceuticals were the most heavily represented sectors in the top five short position net increases on both the Nasdaq and NYSE.

The following list shows some stocks in those sectors that saw increased interest from short sellers, who bet that a certain stock's price will fall, and key recent news events for those stocks.

The data reflect short trades with a settlement date of June 15.

For full story please see [ID:nN24227138]. For factboxes see [ID:nN24462696] and [ID:nN24306008].

MICROSOFT (MSFT.O)

Short interest rose 23.7 percent.

Earlier this month, Russia's state anti-monopoly service said it thought Microsoft had violated anti-monopoly legislation. For details see [ID:nL435248]

About 70.7 million of the company's shares were held short.

MERCK & CO (MRK.N)

Short interest rose 17.6 percent.

Merck's experimental heart failure drug failed to meet the goals of a late-stage study, the company said earlier in June. [ID:nN05273234]

About 134 million of the company's shares were held short.

DELL INC (DELL.O)

Short interest rose 31 percent.

JPMorgan cut its second-quarter revenue forecast for the server segment earlier in June, and cited a picture of increasing downside risk in its operating estimates for Dell and other companies. [ID:nBNG145058]