(Reuters) – Global equity funds saw a surge in outflows in the week to May 11 as fears of an economic slowdown and further tightening by major central banks to rein in stubborn inflation spooked investors.
In a fifth straight week of net selling, investors sold $10.53 billion worth of global equity funds, compared to just $1.65 billion in net selling the previous week, according to Refinitiv Lipper.
The MSCI index of global stocks plunged to a year-and-a-half low of 607.4 this week as inflationary pressures raised fears of a hard landing for the economy.
US equity funds saw net sales worth $8.46 billion, European funds saw $4.33 billion sold, but investors were net buyers of Asian funds d worth $2.23 billion.
Among sector funds, financials recorded a sixth consecutive week of outflows, for an amount of 1.71 billion dollars. Investors also pulled in about $0.7 billion each from mining and industries.
Meanwhile, global bond funds saw outflows of $13.23 billion in a sixth straight week of net selling.
Global short- and mid-term bond funds saw outflows of $8.14 billion in the largest weekly outflow since at least June 2020, but government bond funds attracted a third weekly inflow, a net worth of $3.38 billion.
Investors also withdrew $1.73 billion from money market funds in their second straight weekly net selloff.
Commodities fund data showed weekly net sales of gold and precious metals funds hit a two-month high of $1.54 billion as gold prices fell below their 200-day moving averages.
An analysis of 24,155 emerging markets funds showed investors sold $2.49 billion of equity funds and $2.65 billion of bond funds, marking a fifth consecutive week of outflows in both segments.
(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra and Patturaja Murugaboopathy in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)