Optimistic investors still buying stocks – BofA

By Samuel Indyk

LONDON (Reuters) -Investors continued to buy stock and bond funds in the week to Wednesday, Bank of America (NYSE:) global research said in a report on Friday citing EPFR data, after the previous week’s Federal Reserve and European Central Bank policy decisions.

Stock funds saw $4.8 billion of inflows, BofA said, while inflows to technology funds have accelerated, with near $6 billion inflow in the last four weeks.

Financials saw an outflow of $1.8 billion, the largest from the sector in 12 weeks.

BofA said bond funds saw $7.2 billion of inflows, while outflows from TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities) resumed after receiving their first inflow since August 2022 the week before.

The Fed last Wednesday raised interest rates to their highest in 22 years, but hinted they may have peaked, while the ECB also left the door open to a pause in its tightening cycle in September.

Investors were also happy to park money in cash, as inflows accelerated in July to an average of $26 billion per week, versus an average of around $4 billion per week in June, BofA highlighted, suggesting that some are uneasy about a potential “soft landing” scenario.

“H2 risk is ‘soft landing’ = higher yields and tighter FCI (financial conditions index),” BofA said in the note, which could lead to a “hard landing” later on.

Outflows from gold funds totalled $1.2 billion, BofA said, the tenth straight week of outflows and the longest streak since November last year.

Meanwhile, BofA’s bull & bear indicator, a measure of market sentiment, rose to 4.1 from 4.0, its highest level since banking turmoil in March, driven by stronger inflows to emerging market (EM) stocks, improving credit technicals and bullish positioning from hedge funds.

Inflows to EM stock funds were “picking up”, BofA said, with the four-week moving average inflow at its highest in nine weeks.