A number of hedge funds in the US will attempt to minimise losses on positions they took at the beginning of last week before the World Trade Center catastrophe. Many are understood to have taken bullish long equity positions in anticipation of a rebound last Tuesday morning, after the market fell last Monday. The funds face losses if stocks fall sharply. One hedge fund had taken a long position in Triple Q securities, a form of tracking stock that shadows the Nasdaq. 'If the market falls 5% or less, I am going to sell my position. If it falls much more, I will probably hold on for the long haul,' the fund manager said.

Few hedge funds in Europe opened new positions last week, preferring to adopt a wait-and-see attitude ahead of the reopening of US stock markets on Monday.