Bank of America: Clients net bought US stocks for the first time in six weeks, with retail investors and hedge funds leading the way

Bank of America stock and quantitative strategist Jill Carey Hall stated on Tuesday that last week Bank of America Securities clients net bought US stocks for the first time in six weeks, led by retail investors and hedge funds.

According to the report, the bank's securities clients bought $1.9 billion of US stocks last week, with funds flowing into individual stocks and ETFs. Retail and hedge fund clients led the net buying, and the inflow of funds into individual stocks was the largest in a week since December 2023.

Retail funds saw a net inflow for the second consecutive week, hedge fund clients saw a net inflow for the first time in four weeks, and institutional clients saw a net outflow for the second consecutive week.

In addition, Bank of America's corporate clients set the second-largest weekly buyback volume since 2010 last week, exceeding seasonal levels for 13 consecutive weeks.

According to the report, corporate clients net bought 7 out of 11 sectors, with 70% of S&P 500 component companies' buybacks announced so far this year concentrated in the technology and communication services sectors. Year-to-date, corporate client buybacks account for 0.44% of the S&P 500 market value, higher than the 0.34% high point in the same period in 2023.

In another research report, Brian Reynolds, Chief Market Strategist at Reynolds Strategy LLC, pointed out that the current market is being driven by debt-funded stock buybacks. Despite a slowdown in buyback growth in the first quarter, Reynolds stated that buybacks still remain dominant