(Reuters) – U.S. equity funds saw strong inflows in the week to July 28, bolstered by optimism over earnings and hopes for a faster economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. equity funds attracted a net $8.03 billion, the biggest inflow in five weeks, data from Refinitiv Lipper showed.

(Graphic: Fund flows into U.S. equities bonds and money market: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/xmpjogjzzvr/Fund%20flows%20into%20U.S.%20equities%20bonds%20and%20money%20market.jpg)

Equity funds’ inflows were heavily focused on exchange-traded funds, whose holdings rose by $10.9 billion.

On the other hand, U.S. equity mutual funds faced outflows of $943 million, underscoring investors’ preference for passive funds in recent months.

U.S. growth funds received $2.7 billion, the biggest weekly inflow in four months, while U.S. value funds faced meagre outflows.

(Graphic: Flows into U.S. equity sector funds: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/mypmnmxmmvr/Flows%20into%20U.S.%20equity%20sector%20funds.jpg)

(Graphic: Fund flows into U.S. growth and value fund: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/mopanmdmkva/Fund%20flows%20into%20U.S.%20growth%20and%20value%20funds.jpg)

Among sector funds, technology, consumer staples and industrial products were in high demand, seeing inflows of $931 million, $693 million and $409 million respectively.

At the same time, U.S. bond funds also attracted $3.3 billion, the most in three weeks, due to lingering worries over higher inflation and the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus.

(Graphic: Flows into U.S. bond funds: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/zdpxoykyrvx/Flows%20into%20U.S.%20bond%20funds.jpg)

Inflation-protected funds attracted a record $2.2 billion in the week, the data showed.

U.S. money market funds received a net $17.9 billion, the biggest in nine weeks.

(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra and Patturaja Murugaboopathy in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey)

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