NYX Nyse Euronext

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Short interest in New York Stock Exchange-listed stocks dropped 2.2% in the first half of December from the last part of November, according to the latest figures for the exchange's semimonthly statistic.

The latest figures come as the stock market has been climbing throughout the month of December.

At the NYSE, a unit of NYSE Euronext (NYX), short interest dropped to 13.31 billion shares, equal to 3.48% of total shares outstanding. That was down from a revised 13.62 billion in the prior period.

Investors who short shares first borrow them and then sell them, betting that share prices will fall and that they can buy them back at a lower price for return to the lender. Stocks can also be shorted for reasons other than bearish bets, including hedging strategies.

-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480; john.kell@dowjones.com