Investing.com -- Bank of America Securities said its clients bought US equities last week, pouring $1.1 billion, marking the tenth consecutive week of inflows.
While clients increased holdings of individual stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw significant outflows, with the largest ETF outflow recorded since January of last year.
Private clients, who typically drive January buying, were net buyers for the fifth week in a row. Month-to-date inflows from private clients as a percentage of market capitalization have already surpassed the historical January average. They bought both individual stocks and ETFs, with a stronger focus on stocks.
Meanwhile, institutional and hedge fund clients, who often sell US equities in January, showed contrasting behavior.
Hedge funds were net sellers for the sixth consecutive week, while institutional clients made modest net purchases after being net sellers the previous week.
According to BofA, corporate buybacks picked up last week but remained slightly below seasonal trends. Last year, corporate buybacks were at their highest levels since 2010, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of S&P 500 market capitalization.
Clients bought stocks in eight of the 11 sectors, with Communication Services and Health Care leading the inflows. Conversely, sectors like Consumer Staples, Industrials, and Utilities experienced outflows.
“Private clients’ biggest purchases were of Health Care and Financials stocks,” BofA notes, with Financials seeing their largest inflows since March 2023.
In the ETF space, most sector ETFs attracted inflows, particularly Real Estate and Consumer Discretionary ETFs, while Financial and Technology ETFs experienced the largest outflows.