BofA analysts reflected on the last week’s client flows, in a week that saw the S&P 500 close 0.7% higher.
According to analysts, BofA’s clients were “big net sellers” of U.S. stocks ($6.96 billion), which marks the biggest weekly outflow since November 2020. The record week comes after the clients were previously buying stocks the prior 3 weeks.
“Both hedge funds & institutional clients were big net sellers, after both bought equities the week before. Net sales for both groups were close to record levels (second- and seventh-largest outflows in our weekly history since ’08, respectively). Private clients were net buyers after selling the week before,” analysts said in a note.
Outflows were mostly focused on large caps, which attracted the second-largest outflow on record. On the other hand, clients were buying small-caps with the rolling 4-wk. avg. inflows into small caps the highest since early 2022, the analysts noted.
“Clients sold stocks in seven of the 11 sectors, led by Tech and Communication Services, with record weekly outflows from both sectors. Previously, Comm. Svcs. had the longest buying streak of any sector (prior 10wks), with record YTD inflows as a % of market cap since the sector’s 2018 inception.”
Two consumer-focused sectors attracted near-record outflows last week.