The wind has changed? Bank of America clients withdraw capital from the US stock market for the first time in three weeks
The report shows that this fund outflow has affected 7 out of 11 industry groups, with the most significant impact on technology stocks. This is the first fund outflow from technology stocks in three weeks
The US stock market is still close to its historical highs. Bank of America Corp. reported on Wednesday that its clients withdrew funds from the US stock market for the first time in three weeks.
According to media reports, the bank's quantitative strategy team (including Jill Carey Hall) wrote in a report to clients on Tuesday that all major client groups (excluding corporations) withdrew funds last week, totaling $4.6 billion withdrawn from the US stock market.
The S&P 500 index closed at 5634.61 points last weekend, just 0.9% below its all-time high. Analysts believe that with the S&P 500 index rising 18% this year, the uncertainty about how long the risk appetite sentiment that has been driving the index higher can continue has increased.
This also marks a change from the pattern of continuous buying by clients over the past two weeks. In the previous week, Bank of America's clients invested $2.7 billion in US stocks, while the S&P 500 index recorded its best weekly performance of the year.
The report shows that the outflow of funds this time affected 7 out of 11 industry groups, with the most significant being the technology sector, which saw its first outflow of funds in three weeks. Energy stocks saw outflows for the fifth consecutive week, while the consumer discretionary sector saw outflows for the first time in six weeks. Communication services stocks, on the other hand, were once again winners, continuing their trend of inflows for 21 consecutive weeks.
While individual stocks experienced outflows, the bank's clients purchased ETFs of various sizes, styles, and industries for the third consecutive week, except for mid-cap ETFs. Unlike individual stocks, technology ETFs attracted the largest inflows of funds, while energy ETFs experienced the largest outflows.
Meanwhile, the pace of stock buybacks by Bank of America's corporate clients slowed last week, with buyback volumes falling below seasonal levels for the first time in 24 weeks. However, based on the company's historical data, buybacks are still expected to set a record from the beginning of the year to date