By Reuters
(Reuters) - Global equity funds attracted inflows for a ninth straight
week as fund investors, encouraged by an overall strong third-quarter
earnings season, brushed off concerns about lofty tech valuations.
LSEG
Lipper data showed that investors bought a net $4.43 billion worth of
global equity funds during the week to November 19, a touch higher than
the prior week's $4.39 billion.
Weekly flows into global equity, bond and money market funds in $ million
"The third-quarter earnings season was robust, led by tech but with
signs of strength across the board," said Mark Haefele, chief investment
officer, UBS Global Wealth Management.
LSEG
data for a combined 4,448 large- and mid-cap companies showed that
their profits rose about 15.66% from a year ago in the third quarter,
topping analyst expectations of an 8.23% increase.
"We rate global equities as Attractive," UBS's Haefele said.
The MSCI World Index (.MIWD00000PUS), however,
eased to a nearly 2-1/2-month low of 963.34 on Friday amid uncertainty
over U.S. interest rates and worries about stretched valuations in the
technology sector.
Investors
bought a net $4.36 billion and $3.13 billion, respectively, of U.S. and
Asian equity funds but divested roughly $6.03 billion worth of European
funds.
The healthcare sector received a net $2.46 billion, the largest weekly
inflow since at least 2022. Consumer discretionary and tech, however,
saw net sales of $1.12 billion and $895 million, respectively.
Weekly flows into global equity sector funds in $ million
Investors bought a net $10.55 billion worth of global bond funds, extending inflows into a 31st straight week.
Short-term
bond funds drew $4.76 billion, following approximately $5.79 billion
worth of net purchases the prior week. Government bond funds and
euro-denominated bond funds also attracted $3.41 billion and $2.92
billion, respectively.
Weekly flows into global bond funds in $ million
Money market funds suffered a second successive weekly outflow, valued at a net $7.51 billion.
Investors
pumped $5.2 billion into gold and precious metals commodity funds in
their largest weekly net purchase since October 22.
In
emerging markets, investors added a net $2.05 billion worth of equity
funds for a fourth successive weekly purchase but divested approximately
$1.04 billion worth of bond funds, data for a combined 28,779 funds
showed.
Weekly flows into EM equity and bond funds in $ million
Reporting by Gaurav Dogra; Editing by Kirsten Donovan
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