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Investing.com -- Bank of America (BofA) clients turned net sellers of U.S. equities last week, pulling $1.4 billion from the market despite a 1.5% gain in the S&P 500.
BofA said the selling was led by institutional investors, who have now been net sellers in 11 of the past 12 weeks. Hedge funds also resumed selling after a two-week pause, while private clients remained steady buyers for the 31st time in the last 33 weeks.
Corporate client buybacks remained muted for the fourth consecutive week and fell below seasonal norms.
“We have actually seen a deceleration in buybacks as a % of mkt. cap since early March,” strategist Jill Carey Hall said, noting this may reflect the impact of elevated interest rates and equity valuations. She added that it expects “some shift toward dividends.”
Sector flows showed broad weakness, with outflows in eight of eleven groups. Technology and Communication Services saw the largest withdrawals, reversing inflows from the prior week.
Utilities extended their selling streak to ten straight weeks. Commodity-linked sectors such as Energy and Materials stood out, with Energy seeing its first inflow in five weeks.
On the ETF side, clients maintained a strong bid, with net buying accelerating to the highest level in a month. Inflows spanned all major equity styles and size segments, although broad market ETFs experienced outflows.
Health Care and Communication Services led sector ETF inflows, while Consumer Discretionary posted its first weekly outflow since mid-June.
By size, mid-caps were the only group to see net inflows, while large and small caps experienced selling.
Overall, BofA’s rolling four-week average of client equity flows remained in negative territory, signaling a cautious tone among investors.