(Reuters) – Investors trimmed their holdings in global equity funds in the week ending April 3 as they weighed the possibility of the Federal Reserve delivering fewer interest rate cuts than expected, amid strong U.S. economic reports and solid labor demand.
LSEG data showed investors shed a net $2.08 billion worth of global equity funds during the week, marking the first weekly net outflow since Feb. 21.
This cautious stance came as the ISM report indicated U.S. manufacturing growth in March, the first since September 2022, lessening the likelihood of imminent rate cuts. Further bolstering this view was the rise in U.S. job openings in February.
By region, investors offloaded U.S. and European equity funds of $3.28 billion and $1.63 billion, respectively. Asian funds still witnessed about $2.02 billion worth of net purchases.
The healthcare sector suffered net selling for a fourth successive week as it lost about $1 billion in outflows. Consumer staples and utilities also saw $239 million and $225 million worth of outflows, respectively.
Global investors, meanwhile, acquired a net $14.71 billion worth of bond funds, posting the largest weekly net purchase in four weeks.
Medium-term U.S. dollar bonds saw a significant uptick in demand as they secured about $4.55 billion, the most in a week since May 3, 2023. Corporate and government debt funds meanwhile, had $2.36 billion and $776 million worth of net purchases, respectively.
Money market funds attracted significant capital during the week, valuing about $104.32 billion on a net basis, the largest amount since January 3.
Among commodities, investors purchased precious metal funds worth $663 million, a turnaround from $586 million in net disposals in the prior week. Conversely, energy funds had $52 million in net outgo.
Data covering 29,583 emerging market funds showed bond funds accumulated about $1.42 billion in net purchases, the highest since early December 2023. Equity funds, however, faced an outflow, amounting to a net $851 million.
