BAS BASF AG

   By Nathan Allen 
 

U.K.-based hedge fund Marshall Wace LLP has taken out a short position of 0.5% against German chemicals company BASF SE (BAS.XE), according to a regulatory filing published Thursday.

The short position, which means Marshall Wace stands to benefit if BASF shares fall, is valued at roughly 286 million euros ($322.7 million) based on BASF's current market capitalization.

Shorting BASF is the latest bet against a German industrial company from Marshall Wace, which also holds short positions of 0.86% in Thyssenkrupp AG (TKA.XE), 0.69% in Wacker Chemie AG (WCH.XE) and 0.68% in Daimler AG (DAI.XE)

Germany's industrial producers are highly dependent on exports and have been roiled by this year's escalation in trade tensions between the U.S. and China. President Trump's threats to slap tariffs on the country's auto makers have elevated concerns about profitability for an industry already under pressure from increasingly stringent emissions regulations and changing consumer trends.

A Marshall Wace spokesman declined to comment on individual investments but said the company hasn't taken a position against corporate Germany.

"The current book is balanced in Germany--net long positions and net short positions balance each other," he said.

Because the threshold for reporting short positions in Germany is lower than the threshold for reporting long positions, market disclosures can appear skewed towards short positions.

Write to Nathan Allen at nathan.allen@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 05, 2019 11:52 ET (15:52 GMT)

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