Given the economic backdrop – and outlook – it is no shock to find that the most “shorted” stocks outside the FTSE 100 are housebuilders and retailers.

What is more surprising are some of the big bearish bets taken on technology stocks, and in particular semiconductor, or chip, companies. Some 29 per cent of CSR, which designs wireless Bluetooth chips for mobile phones, is on loan, according to DataExplorers. There are also large stock borrowing positions in Imagination Technologies (24 per cent of share capital), ARM Holdings (14 per cent) and Wolfson Microelectronics (6 per cent).