HEDGE FUNDS STEP UP PURCHASES OF TECH STOCKS, GOLDMAN SACHS SAYS

(Bloomberg) -- The risk-on momentum in technology stocks last week wasn’t lost on hedge funds, who scooped up the sector’s companies at the fastest clip in more than a year.

Technology stocks saw the largest net buying since December 2022 last week by the group, driven by an increase in long positions and short-covering, data compiled by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s prime brokerage show.

Hedge funds were net buyers of the sector for a fourth straight week, defying weakness in the S&P 500 Information Technology Index, which has been sliding for most of April amid concern the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer. Their buying looked prescient last week, when upbeat earnings from Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. boosted investor optimism in the sector’s fundamentals.

“The long-term potential for technology is quite clear and almost unarguable,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management. “Yet, with valuations so extended, many investors have been averse to adding exposure of late. The recent pullback has provided a small sigh of relief for valuations, giving the opportunity to gain exposure to a robust and secular theme.”

The S&P 500 Information Technology Index rallied 5.1% last week, snapping a four-week losing streak, its longest since September. Alphabet soared past $2 trillion in market value as it reassured investors about its prospects with AI. Microsoft’s stock also gained after the firm showed progress on AI in their quarterly results.

“Earnings overtook sentiment,” Goldman analysts including Vincent Lin wrote in a note, adding that there were no major drags on the S&P 500 Index besides Meta Platforms Inc., which posted sales guidance that trailed expectations.

While nearly all technology sub-sectors saw inflows, buying was led by semiconductors and semiconductor equipment companies. Hedge funds’ allocation in the sub-sector jumped to 4.4% of the overall US single-stock allocation — the highest level in more than five years — from 1.1% at the start of the year, the bank’s data show.

All told, hedge funds net bought US stocks at the fastest pace in about five months last week. The S&P 500 posted its best week of 2024, closing a hair away from 5,100.

However, buying wasn’t uniform, as there was more net selling in consumer discretionary stocks, with managers offsetting new longs with more aggressive short sales, and in staples where short sales dominated.