Investing.com -- Bank of America Securities reported a significant wave of equity inflows last week, with clients adding $8 billion to U.S. stocks as markets faced their steepest weekly drop since October 2008.
It marked the fourth-largest weekly inflow since 2008 in dollar terms and the 31st-largest relative to market cap, the bank said in a Tuesday report.
All investor categories were net buyers, led by institutional clients, who recorded their biggest inflows since December and broke a three-week selling streak.
Private clients extended their record-setting start to the year with a 17th consecutive week of net buying, including their sixth-largest inflow on record. Hedge funds also turned modestly positive for the first time since early February.
Corporate buyback activity picked up as well, rising above typical seasonal levels for the first time in five weeks.
Investor demand spanned most sectors, with notable strength in Technology and Industrials. Tech stocks saw their “first inflow in three weeks and fifth-largest weekly inflow in our data history since ’08,” BofA said.
Industrials logged their second-biggest inflow ever, following a previous peak in March 2015.
Only Consumer Discretionary and Utilities saw net outflows, though BofA noted that Utilities appear attractive in the near term across both large-cap and SMID segments.
Flows favored cyclical sectors over defensives for the fourth straight week, signaling a lack of recessionary positioning among investors.
Exchange-traded fund (ETF) buying was broad across sizes and styles—with the exception of Growth strategies, which saw no net inflows.
Sector-wise, Financials and Consumer Discretionary ETFs led the inflows, while Energy ETFs experienced the largest outflows.