Global equity fund inflows ease on worries over Fed independence

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(Reuters) -Global equity funds witnessed a dip in demand in the week through August 27 on concerns around the Federal Reserve’s independence as President Donald Trump attempted to fire a Federal Reserve governor.

According to LSEG Lipper data, global equity funds received just $2.96 billion in inflows during the week, the smallest amount since a $7.64 billion weekly outflow in the week to August 6.

European equity funds saw a net $876 million weekly purchase when compared with approximately $9.88 billion inflows in the prior week. Investors added U.S. and Asian equity funds of a net $571 million and $649 million, respectively.

Meanwhile, equity financial sector funds saw a surge in demand with a net $1.52 billion – the biggest amount in eight months- flowing in during the week.

Gold and precious metals, and technology sector funds also saw significant inflows to the tune of $556 million and $553 million, respectively.

Global bond funds were, meanwhile, popular for a 19th straight week as these funds saw a net $14.42 billion in inflows during the week.

The short-term bond funds segment attracted a noticeable $2.59 billion in a ninth straight week of net purchases.

Euro-denominated bond funds and corporate bond funds also saw a massive $2.37 billion and $1.77 billion net weekly inflows.

Money market funds, meanwhile, saw a net $17.57 billion weekly outflow as investors ended three weeks’ buying trend.

In parallel, gold and precious metals commodity funds attracted a net of $715 million as demand renewed after a net $293 million weekly outflow.

In emerging markets, investors ditched $310 million worth of equity funds, logging a third weekly outflow in four weeks. They, however, snapped up $985 million worth of bond funds, data for a combined 29,693 funds showed.

(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)