U.S. equity funds register biggest weekly inflow in 28 months

(Reuters) – U.S. equity funds saw their most substantial weekly net purchases since early 2021 during the seven days leading up to June 14, as concerns over a potential rate hike during the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting this week were alleviated by cooling inflation readings.

The Fed left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday in line with investors’ expectations and broke a streak of 10 consecutive rate hikes.

According to Refinitiv Lipper data, U.S. equity funds drew a net $18.85 billion worth of inflows in their biggest weekly net buying since mid-February 2021.

U.S. large-, small-, and multi-cap equity funds attracted $7.76 billion, $3.33 billion and $1.93 billion worth of capital, respectively but investors exited mid-cap funds of about $1.36 billion.

Among sectors, tech secured a net $1.73 billion, the biggest inflow since December 2021. Investors also racked up financials, consumer discretionary and industrial sector finds of $581 million, $517 million and $460 million, respectively.

Meanwhile, money market funds witnessed net withdrawals of about $10.09 billion after observing net purchases for seven weeks in a row.

Data showed, U.S. bond funds received a net $3.96 billion in inflows during the week after having a net $577 million worth of outflow in the previous week.

U.S. government, and short/intermediate investment-grade funds received about $1.22 billion each in inflows, while general domestic taxable fixed income funds saw $1.1 billion worth of net buying.

Meanwhile, investors exited $374 million worth of inflation-protected bond funds in a ninth straight week of net selling.

(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra and Patturaja Murugaboopathy in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra)