Europe, Asia lead equity fund inflows as US records weekly outflow

Feb 13 (Reuters) – European and Asian equity funds drew strong inflows in the week ended February 11 as investors trimmed exposure to U.S. mega-cap stocks on concerns about stretched valuations and rising AI-related spending.

Global equity funds marked a fifth straight weekly inflow, at $25.54 billion, with European funds securing $17.53 billion – the most in a week since at least 2022 – and Asian funds drawing in roughly $6.28 billion net inflows, LSEG Lipper data showed.

U.S. equity funds, meanwhile, witnessed weekly outflows of $1.42 billion, the first net sales for a week in three.

The U.S. technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite index fell 2.03% on Thursday on renewed worries over the potential disruptions in sectors including software, legal services and wealth management, from AI technology.

Global bond funds were popular for a sixth straight week as these funds saw approximately $21.09 billion net inflows in the most recent week.

Short-term bond funds’ weekly inflows at $4.87 billion were the biggest since a $10.17 billion net purchase in mid-December. Corporate and euro-denominated bond funds also attracted a significant $2.63 billion and $2.06 billion, respectively.

Money market fund inflows, meanwhile, eased to a three-week low of $1.15 billion in the week.

Gold and precious metal commodity funds attracted their 13th weekly inflow in 14 weeks, although at a $1.25 billion net figure, the amount was the lowest in five weeks.

In emerging markets, investors pumped $8.52 billion into equity funds as they extended the recent buying streak into an eighth straight week. Bond funds, meanwhile, saw $1.29 billion of inflows, data for a combined 28,723 funds showed.

(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)