Ireland is now Europe's most shorted market having overtaken both France and the UK to claim top spot as investors ramp up bets against Irish firms including Dublin-based bookmaker Flutter Entertainment, according top a report by Financial News.

Ireland is now Europe's most shorted market having overtaken both France and the UK to claim top spot as investors ramp up bets against Irish firms including Dublin-based bookmaker Flutter Entertainment, according to a report by Financial News.

The report cites data from SEI Novus as revealing that while over the past year, Ireland accounted for just 1% of short positions, a big spike in interest during October saw that figure jump to 46.29%.

France is a distant second in the current rankings with 11.65% of short best, followed by the UK with 10.78%. The UK has been amongst the top three most-shorted markets consistently since February, but its short exposure decreased significantly from 20.2% as at 30 September, according to SEI Novus.

Hedge fund Bridgewater Associates maintained its large short exposure across European stocks last month, accounting for 33.54% of registered short positions, while European markets also witnessed bearish bets from Marshall Wace and BlackRock.