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Investing.com -- BofA clients were net sellers of U.S. equities for the third consecutive week, with total outflows of $3.8 billion, according to the bank’s latest client flow trends report.
The four-week average of outflows has now reached the highest level since the run-up to the 2024 U.S. election.
Institutional investors drove the bulk of the selling, offloading equities in nine of the past ten weeks.
In contrast, private clients were again net buyers, extending their streak to 29 of the last 31 weeks.
“The cumulative gap between institutional selling and retail buying in the YTD is the largest of any comparable YTD period in our data history since ‘08 and the 2nd largest (after 2017) when normalized by market cap,” the report said.
Sector-wise, clients sold stocks in eight out of eleven sectors. Technology, consumer staples, and health care led the outflows.
On the other hand, industrials and financials saw the strongest inflows, ahead of major bank earnings releases.
“Overall, cyclical sectors saw inflows while defensives saw outflows after cyclicals saw larger outflows the prior week,” BofA wrote.
Clients continued to add to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the sixth straight week, with inflows across styles and sizes, particularly in large-cap and broad market ETFs.
Despite this, ETF outflows were recorded in tech, staples, and health care—mirroring trends in single stocks.
Corporate buybacks picked up pace but remained below seasonal norms for the second week in a row.
Hedge funds, meanwhile, returned as buyers for the first time in a month.
The S&P 500 ended last week in the red, but the index reached a new all-time high on Thursday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 edged up 0.1% as investors looked past recent trade headlines.