US equity funds register biggest weekly inflow in 28 months

June 16 (Reuters) – US 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, US equity funds drew a net USD 18.85 billion worth of inflows in their biggest weekly net buying since mid-February 2021.

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

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

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

Data showed US bond funds received a net USD 3.96 billion in inflows during the week after having a net USD 577 million worth of outflow in the previous week.

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

Meanwhile, investors exited USD 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)