Investing.com -- Hedge funds are increasingly moving away from stocks of companies that offer discretionary products and services. These are items that consumers desire but do not necessarily need. This shift in investment patterns was highlighted in a recent note from Goldman Sachs’ prime brokerage.

In the past week, hedge funds have reduced their long positions in consumer discretionary stocks, making it the most sold-off stock sector this year, as per the note.

A long position is an investment strategy where an investor buys a stock with the expectation that it will increase in value. Conversely, a short position is a bet that the value of an asset will decrease.

The uncertainty surrounding U.S. tariffs has created turbulence in global markets and heightened fears of an economic recession.

A recession is typically defined by economists as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.