LONDON - Hedge funds bought health care stocks at the fastest pace in five months, a Goldman Sachs prime brokerage note showed, on bets these stocks that are sensitive to borrowing costs will rise as a global rate cutting cycle picks up.

Health care stocks were among the most net bought sectors on Goldman Sachs' trading desk last week, said the note sent to clients on Friday and seen by Reuters on Monday.

Consumer spending, or PCE, the Federal Reserve's measure of U.S. inflation, rose 0.2% last month after an unrevised 0.5% gain in July, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Sept. 27.

Certain stock sectors are sensitive to this consumer spending number, noted Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank in a note to clients on Monday.

"The market will as ever pay closest attention to the categories that feed into the core PCE deflator – namely, health care services, airfares and portfolio management," the note said.

Last week's rush to buy health care stocks was the largest net buying in the sector for the last five months, driven by hedge funds with long bets that equities would rise, rather than those exiting short positions, the Goldman Sachs prime brokerage note said.

A short bet expects an asset price to decline.

Hedge funds bought most companies considered part of the health care stock sector, including pharmaceuticals, biotech, and health care providers and services, the Goldman Sachs note said.

Hedge funds overlooked life sciences tools and services, it said.

Speculators concentrated mostly on North America and Europe, said the note.

Health care has now been bought in five of the last six weeks, it said.

By contrast, hedge funds were most short on U.S. real estate and it was the most net sold sector on the U.S. prime brokerage trading desk last week, the Goldman note added.

Four times as many hedge funds last week took short bets against the sector as those that were long, said the bank.

Last week’s short selling, the largest since August 2023, concentrated on real estate trusts, management and development and office space trusts, said the note.

(Reporting by Nell Mackenzie; Editing by Sharon Singleton)