NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. money market fund assets increased to their highest level since January 2010 as investors piled back into these low-risk products, reversing a slight pullback, the Money Fund Report said on Wednesday.
Money fund assets grew by $28.94 billion to $3.240 trillion in the week ended July 23, their highest level since the week of Jan. 12, 2010, when they totaled $3.251 trillion.
Despite Wall Street hovering at record highs, some investors have been withdrawing money from domestic stock funds, totaling some $58 billion year-to-date.
Conflicts between the United States and its trading partners and worries about a slowing global economy have led some investors to favor cash-like vehicles which are yielding about 2% - comparable to the yields on benchmark 10-year Treasuries notes (US10YT=RR).
Since the end of 2018, investors have poured $269 billion into money funds.
In the latest week, taxable money fund assets rose by $30.23 billion to $3.103 trillion, which was the highest since the week of Aug. 4, 2009 when they stood at $3.111 trillion, according to the report, published by iMoneyNet.
Tax-free fund assets fell by $1.29 billion to $137.64 billion.
The iMoneyNet average seven-day simple yield for taxable money funds dipped to 1.96% from 1.97% a week ago. The weighted average maturity among taxable funds was unchanged at 30 days.
The iMoneyNet average seven-day yield for tax-free and municipal funds rose to 0.90% from last week's 0.86%, which the lowest since last August. The weighted average maturity of tax-free funds was unchanged at 29 days.
(GRAPHIC - U.S. money fund assets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2Em6sNq)