By Trevor Hunnicutt
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. taxable-bond funds recorded their first withdrawals since March during the latest week, Investment Company Institute data showed on Wednesday, as the appeal of riskier debt slumped under concerns Britain will vote to leave the European Union.
The mutual funds leaked $99 million during the week that ended June 15, the first outflows since the week ended March 30, as most bond categories saw muted sales, the data showed.
The withdrawals are a rare turn for U.S.-based debt funds, an attractive option this year for investors fleeing stock price swings and the near-zero yields in international bond markets.
"Brexit is the thought bubble looming large over retail investors' heads," said Mike Loewengart, vice president of investment strategy at E*Trade Financial Corp. "And for good reason given its historic significance and yet-to-be-known consequences."
High-yield funds, which pulled in $201 million the week prior, posted $269 million in outflows over the weekly period. Investors took another $811 million from global bond products. Investment-grade bond funds weakened to $469 million of inflows in the latest week from $3.7 billion during the week ended June 8, according to the data from ICI, a trade group for funds.
Stocks were not spared either. World stock funds based in the United States shed $1.6 billion, their largest outflows since the week ended April 27, when the products bled $2.4 billion. Both developed and emerging-market funds posted outflows, ICI said.
Funds focused on domestic companies posted $4.3 billion in outflows, adding to a trend that has persisted most of the year, according to ICI.