Hedge funds sold global technology stocks at one of the fastest paces on record last week, as concerns that political opposition could derail the data-center buildout triggered an aggressive reassessment of the artificial intelligence trade.

Tech was by far the most heavily net-sold sector globally and in the US last week, with the percentage amount roughly matching the record in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. data going back to 2016. The move also triggered the biggest wave of single-stock net selling in four months, according to the bank’s prime brokerage data as of Nov. 6.

Investors rushed to reduce risk after the US midterm elections raised questions about the pace of future data-center development and the associated demand for semiconductors and other infrastructure. Market participants increasingly focused on how much capacity would actually be built over the coming years. Hedge funds also unloaded US industrial stocks at the fastest pace since April 2020.

The pullback was reflected in positioning. Gross leverage — which accounts for both long and short positions — among US fundamental long-short funds fell 8.7 percentage points to 207.5%, marking the largest weekly decline since March 2020. Net leverage, which excludes short positions, dropped 3.7 percentage points to 43.3%, the largest weekly decline since the week of “Liberation Day” in April 2025.

There were signs of stabilization toward the end of the week, however. Hedge funds finished as net buyers for the week in Goldman’s equity trading desk data, driven primarily by Friday’s buying, which was largely attributed to covering macro positions such as indexes and exchange-traded funds.