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Investing.com -- Bank of America (BofA) Securities said on Tuesday that U.S. equity flows among clients turned broadly positive last week, with a total of $1.7 billion in inflows.
The buying was spread across all major client types and size segments, reversing the prior week’s selling and marking a notable shift in positioning.
Institutional investors led the move, posting their first inflows in six weeks. Hedge funds were modest net buyers, while private clients extended their buying streak to five consecutive weeks.
"Clients bought stocks in 8 of 11 sectors after selling stocks in most sectors the prior week," BofA strategists said in a note. The strongest inflows were recorded in Financials, driven primarily by large-cap names.
These flows were the “biggest since February” and represented the fourth-largest weekly inflow into the sector since 2008. Other heavily bought sectors included Health Care, Industrials and Energy, while Utilities also saw inflows after an extended period of selling.
Cyclicals saw a surge in demand, with BofA noting it was their largest weekly inflows since January 2019. In contrast, Communication Services posted the largest outflows, followed by Consumer Discretionary and Real Estate.
All market cap segments—large, mid, and small—attracted inflows. Large caps led the pack, followed by mid caps and small caps. Notably, this was the first time since mid-June that all three categories recorded positive four-week average flows.
Meanwhile, equity ETF flows turned negative for the first time in nine weeks. While Value ETFs extended their inflow streak to 26 weeks, Blend and Growth ETFs posted outflows.
Technology ETFs were an exception, seeing the “first inflows since mid-June,” while sectors such as Staples, Real Estate, and Industrials saw net selling.
BofA said corporate buybacks picked up slightly but remained below typical seasonal levels for the fifth consecutive week. As a share of market cap, buybacks have been trending lower since March, continuing a multi-month deceleration.