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Investors in U.S.-based funds poured $2.6 billion into stock funds in the week ended Aug. 20 on a rebound in risk appetite, data from the Investment Company Institute showed on Wednesday.
The inflows were the biggest since April, according to the data from ICI, a U.S. mutual fund trade organization. Funds that specialize in U.S. stocks attracted $738 million, marking their first week of new money since April. Bond funds attracted $5 billion, marking their biggest inflows since early May.
While U.S.-focused stock funds attracted cash commitments after steady withdrawals, demand for funds that specialize in international stocks still dominated with inflows of $1.9 billion.
"It does suggest that a lot of the risk-aversion behavior that we've seen in recent months may be coming to an end," said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at RidgeWorth Investments in Atlanta.
The latest inflows into bond funds came after hefty $8.2 billion outflows over the first week of August, according to ICI data. Those outflows coincided with a selloff in high-yield bonds and record withdrawals from high-yield bond funds on concerns that the lower-rated debt was overvalued, according to Lipper data.
Municipal bond funds accounted for $814 million of the latest net inflows into bond funds, while taxable bond funds attracted $4.2 billion. ICI's taxable bond category includes investment-grade, high-yield, government, multi-sector, and world bond funds.
Gayle of RidgeWorth said much of the net inflows into bond funds likely went toward riskier high-yield junk bond funds on investors' attraction to cheaper prices on the debt following the selloff earlier this month.
Risk assets gained over the period. The benchmark U.S. S&P 500 .SPX rose over 2 percent, while MSCI's all-country equity index .MIWD00000PUS rose 1.6 percent. The Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index gained 0.7 percent.
Hybrid funds, which can invest in stocks and fixed income securities, attracted $827 million, marking their second straight week of inflows.
U.S.-based stock funds attract $2.6 billion in latest week: ICI | Reuters
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