Institutional clients power near-record week of equities buying: BofA

Investing.com -- Bank of America Securities (BofA) said institutional clients drove a near-record week of U.S. equity purchases last week, helping fuel the second consecutive week of inflows across all major client groups.

Clients bought $4.3 billion in single stocks, the largest in two years, alongside $1.6 billion in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), marking the biggest ETF inflows in six weeks.

Large caps saw the heaviest buying since March, while mid caps recorded a fourth straight week of inflows.

“All major client groups were buyers for the 2nd straight week, led by institutional clients,” strategist Jill Carey Hall said, noting that net purchases by this group were “the biggest since last Sept. and the 10th-largest in history since ’08.”

Private clients extended their buying streak to six consecutive weeks and have been net buyers in 33 of the past 35 weeks.

Buying was broad-based, with inflows into seven of 11 sectors. Technology led, in the 99th percentile of historical inflows and driven largely by institutional demand, followed by financials, consumer discretionary and staples.

Industrials saw the largest outflows, trailed by health care, communication services and real estate.

ETF activity turned positive after the prior week’s selling, with purchases spread across large- and small-cap funds and all style categories. Value ETFs extended their run to 27 straight weeks of inflows.

Sector-wise, staples, energy and materials led ETF buying, while technology ETFs saw the largest outflows despite strong single-stock demand in the sector.

Corporates accelerated buybacks but for the sixth week in a row remained below typical seasonal levels. Large and mid caps attracted institutional buying, while small caps saw outflows from that group.

The S&P 500 gained 2.4% last week, and BofA’s four-week rolling average of total client flows turned positive for the first time since late June.