By Trevor Hunnicutt
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors pumped the most funds into U.S.-based emerging-market stock funds since March in the latest week, Lipper data released on Thursday showed, as the U.S. Federal Reserve looked less likely to hike interest rates.
The funds took in $1.7 billion in the week ended June 8, the largest inflow since the $3.1 billion in 7-day period ended March 23.
Fund investors also handed a net $1.9 billion to taxable-bond funds during the latest week, the data showed.
The latest U.S. employment report showed the slowest growth in more than 5-1/2 years, dampening expectations that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates in June.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said a few weeks ago that she expected the Fed to raise its benchmark interest rate "in the coming months."
But she omitted those words from a Monday speech, suggesting that the weak May jobs report had caused the Fed to reconsider.
A hike in interest rates would erode the value of bonds. Removing the threat of an imminent hike makes bonds and debt-laden emerging markets more attractive to investors.
"We assume nothing's going to happen in June," said Tom Roseen, head of research services at Thomson Reuters Lipper. "It makes sense to put money to work there."
Money-market funds posted $6.5 billion in outflows, their first withdrawals since late April.
Investment-grade bond funds took in $1.6 billion, their 14th straight week of inflows. Emerging-market debt funds added $448 million while high-yield funds attracted $748 million, Lipper said.
Among other asset classes sensitive to rate forecasts, inflation-protected bond funds posted an outflow of $319 million, their largest since October 2014, the data showed.
Financial-sector funds had $434 million in outflows, according to Lipper, withdrawals that followed two consecutive weeks of net new cash for those funds. Banks earn more in interest if rates rise.
Government debt funds invested in Treasuries posted $845 million in outflows during the week, Lipper said.
U.S. funds invested in Europe and Japan continued their trend of mostly posting weekly outflows this year, according to Lipper, as a strong yen and fears of a British exit from the European Union continued to weigh on investors.
Investors pulled $852 million from U.S.-based stock funds overall, Lipper said, as mutual fund investors continued a long-running trend of trimming exposure to those funds.
Stock exchange-traded funds, taken alone, gathered $3.2 billion in the week.