Investors buy Chinese stocks for the first time in almost two months

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Global hedge funds added more Chinese stocks to their portfolios than they sold in recent days for the first time in seven weeks, Goldman Sachs Group said in a report.

The move seen in onshore and offshore shares was mainly driven by short covers, according to Goldman Sachs. It means that investors betting against Chinese shares were forced to unwind their bearish positions by buying back borrowed shares.

Out of 11 sectors tracked by Goldman Sachs, which tracked the period between June 30 and July 6, only healthcare, financials, communication services and real estate were net sold.

Last week, China ADRs in sectors from e-commerce to online education and ETFs gained on hopes of more governmental economic support, forcing bearish investors to close short positions.

The Wall Street bank runs one of the world’s biggest prime brokerages, which provides lending and trading services to investors and is able to see how large hedge funds and asset managers are moving.

This investors’ move comes amid geopolitical tension between the U.S. and China and weaker-than-expected inflation readings.

(Reporting by Carolina Mandl in New York and Nell Mackenzie in London, Editing by William Maclean)