STX Charts, page-992

I expect to see a rebound in the aggregate short position to higher levels once STX is included in the ASX 200.

The background to this will then be that the index funds will secure their necessary position in Strike by short selling.

The index fund borrows the necessary shares for short selling and sells them accordingly. However, the index fund sells these shares to itself and thus the necessary position could be secured without buying on the market and moving the share price.

At a certain point in time, the index fund must return the borrowed shares. To do this, it uses the strategy described above of permanently shorting and covering...

Therefore, I think the 75m shorted STX shares are partly still an overhang from the inclusion and the rebalancing of STX in the Global Small Cap Index...

All imho!!!