U.S. equity funds see weekly inflows on trade deal optimism

(Reuters) -U.S. equity funds attracted money inflows for the first time in three weeks in the week through July 30, fueled by optimism over a U.S.–EU trade deal and an upbeat corporate earnings season so far.

Investors bought a net $6.34 billion worth of U.S. equity funds during the week, logging their largest weekly net purchase since July 7, data from LSEG Lipper showed.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs on Thursday after strong earnings from Microsoft and Meta Platforms, but closed off those levels. LSEG data showed that, of the 317 S&P 500 constituents that have reported earnings so far, 81% have topped the estimates from analysts, exceeding the average 76% beat rate seen over the past four quarters.

The large-cap equity funds segment witnessed a net $7.81 billion inflow during the week after a three-week-long streak of net selling. Small-cap and mid-cap funds, however, saw net $3.9 billion and $35 million weekly sales respectively.

Sectoral funds gained a net $962 million for a second successive weekly purchase. The financial and tech sectors drew $650 million and $583 million weekly inflows, respectively.

Investors, meanwhile, poured $6.08 billion into U.S. bond funds, extending their buying spree into a 15th week.

They invested a net $1.99 billion in U.S. short-to-intermediate investment-grade funds in their largest weekly purchase since July 2. Short-to-intermediate government and treasury funds, and municipal debt funds also witnessed $1 billion and $937 million worth of net inflows.

Money market funds meanwhile witnessed $1.89 billion worth of withdrawals after a net $7.33 billion weekly purchase.

(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra in BengaluruEditing by Frances Kerry)

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