Short-selling fell at the New York Stock Exchange and at the Nasdaq Stock Market in the first half of December.

In the exchanges' latest twice-a-month statistics, this time for the period ended December 15, the number of short-selling positions at the NYSE not yet closed out, known as short interest, fell 2.23%. The positions stood at 13,313,735,933 shares, from a revised 13,617,841,295 shares in the period ended Nov. 30.