(Reuters) - U.S. equity funds continued to gain inflows for a third straight week in the week to Nov. 2, helped by expectations that the Federal Reserve would slow the pace of its interest rate hikes soon.
According to Refinitiv Lipper data, investors bought a net $10.19 billion worth of U.S. equity funds, compared with purchases of $7.93 billion in the previous week.
GRAPHIC - Fund flows: US equities, bonds and money market funds
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Solid earnings beats from Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and energy giants Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) also boosted investor confidence during the reported week.
Investors purchased U.S. large- and small-cap equity funds worth $6.62 billion and $1.59 billion respectively, although mid-cap funds witnessed outflows of $473 million.
By sector, health care, tech and consumer staples funds obtained inflows worth $630 million, $478 million and $393 million respectively. However, the U.S. Federal Reserve hiked the interest rates by 75 basis points and said the peak for rates would likely be higher than previously expected.
GRAPHIC - Fund flows: US equity sector funds
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Meanwhile, outflows from bond funds stood at just $14 million, a seven-week low. Investors purchased U.S. high yield bond funds of $5.07 billion, which was their biggest weekly net buying since August 2020, but government bond funds witnessed $1.75 billion worth of withdrawals after luring inflows for nine straight weeks.
GRAPHIC - US bond funds
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Money market funds drew $46.64 billion in inflow after posting two weeks of outflows in a row.