US equity funds draw weekly inflows on rate cut hopes

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

(Reuters) -U.S. equity funds gained substantial inflows in the week through August 13 as investors reversed a selling stance on hopes of a potential Federal Reserve rate cut in September, while a U.S.-China tariff truce further lifted sentiment.

Investors bought a net $8.77 billion worth of U.S. equity funds during the week, partially offsetting the $13.89 billion in outflows recorded the previous week, LSEG Lipper data showed.

An interim nomination to the Federal Reserve Board last week and a softer consumer price report on Tuesday boosted expectations of a rate cut next month, although Thursday’s higher-than-expected producer price inflation tempered some of that optimism.

The large-cap equity funds segments saw a net $4.49 billion worth of purchases, a reversal from approximately $7 billion net sales the prior week. Investors also snapped up $296 million worth of small-cap funds while shedding mid-cap funds to the tune of $472 million.

Among sectoral funds, the tech sector received $3.35 billion, the largest amount for a week in 4-1/2 years as Apple Inc pledged new U.S. investments to avoid potential tariffs on iPhones. In contrast, the communication services and healthcare sectors saw $733 million and $557 million in net outflows respectively.

U.S. bond funds drew a 17th straight weekly inflow, totaling $6.87 billion.

General domestic taxable fixed income funds garnered a net$1.57 billion, the largest amount in six weeks. Short-to-intermediate investment-grade funds, and short-to-intermediate government and treasury funds also experienced a hefty $2.52 billion and $1.7 billion worth of net buying.

Weekly investments in money market funds meanwhile cooled to a net $25.04 billion during the week from a massive $78.85 billion in the previous week.

(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton)