Hammerson shares fell 2.6% on Monday as the real estate investment firm was downgraded at HSBC due to the latest UK data causing revisions to the sector.

HSBC downgraded Hammerson to Reduce from Hold and lowered its price target to 12p from 24p. The bank commented on the latest inflation data, and the expected increase in policy rates by the Bank of England have caused another round of price markdowns across the sector.

As a result, HSBC downgraded all firms across the real estate sector to Hold or Reduce.

The group was recently among the top five most shorted stocks. Despite dropping out of the top five, four firms are still short 3.37% of Hammerson’s share, with the sector yet to fully recover since the pandemic. The macroeconomic environment has caused lower disposable income for consumers, stagnating the return to high street stores since lockdown restrictions ended.

As a result, Hammerson shares have been rather stale, falling 1.2% so far this year.

By Jamel Boughedda