US equity funds post biggest weekly outflow in eight weeks

US equity funds saw huge money withdrawals in the seven days to Mar 1 on reinforced worries about the Federal Reserve’s policy tightening after economic data pointed to stickier-than-expected inflation.

Refinitiv Lipper data showed investors offloaded a net US$12.9 billion worth of US equity funds, booking their biggest weekly disposal since Jan 4.

Meanwhile, money market funds drew a net US$64.86 billion, the biggest weekly inflow in eight weeks, amid a risk-off mood among investors.

US large- and mid-cap equity funds faced US$6.27 billion and US$267 million worth of outflows, while investors drew US$1.32 billion out of the small cap funds, snapping a four-week-long buying streak.

Healthcare, tech, and utilities lost US$797 million, US$581 million and US$450 million, respectively in net selling, but industrials obtained about US$542 million worth of inflows.

Meanwhile, US bond funds obtained US$2.79 billion in inflows after witnessing two weeks of net selling.

Investors purchased US short/intermediate government & treasury funds of US$4.75 billion, while general domestic taxable fixed-income funds attracted US$1.9 billion worth of inflows. Still, high-yield funds lost about US$2 billion in a third straight week of outflows. REUTERS