LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) - Global hedge funds' most

crowded long trades in February centered on technology stocks,

data from securities lending provider Hazeltree showed on

Wednesday.

The S&P info tech index, which tracks some of the

biggest global technology firms, has fallen around 4% so far

this year. The broader S&P index is down almost 1%.

Here are some details about hedge fund positioning in tech:

* Global tech companies such as Tencent ( TCTZF ), Nvidia ( NVDA )

and Microsoft ( MSFT ) attracted high amounts of hedge

fund buying in February, said the Hazeltree report.

* Hazeltree's report is based on data from 600 asset

managers tracking 16,000 global stocks.

* Hedge funds have continued to buy technology stocks

through the beginning of this month to March 6, separate data

from a Goldman Sachs ( GS ) client note also showed.

* U.S. tech was the most bought region in the sector, said

Goldman's note.

* Hedge fund buying in software companies mainly comprised

of short covering, when traders must exit losing bets that

wagered the asset prices would fall, said Goldman.

* Hedge funds held crowded short tech stocks in February

including in payments firm, Wise, file storage company

Dropbox ( DBX ) and AI scaler, Oracle, showed the

Hazeltree data. The firms did not immediately respond to

requests for contact.

* Some warn that the AI boom has entered a "more dangerous

phase", marked by exponentially rising investments in physical

infrastructure and growing reliance on outside capital,

according to an analysis by Bridgewater Associates last month.

* "AI investment continues to surprise to the upside," said

a JPMorgan ( JPM ) client note on March 6, seen by Reuters on

Wednesday. It pointed to projections of investment growth in the

sector.

* The world's largest tech companies are tapping debt

markets, as they seek to bolster their AI infrastructure,

marking a shift for Silicon Valley firms that typically relied

on cash to fund their investments.