Cash pulled from US stock funds during latest week
Cash pulled from US stock funds during latest week; bond funds continue to attract money
BOSTON (AP) -- Cash flows into bond mutual funds and foreign stock funds picked up during the latest week, while money was pulled from U.S. stock funds despite rising stock prices.
Stocks:
Investors withdrew a net $608 million from funds investing in U.S. stocks during the weeklong period ended April 24, the Investment Company Institute said in a preliminary report Wednesday. Those funds attracted cash in the two preceding weeks, including net deposits of $1.97 billion in the period ended April 17.
Deposits have exceeded withdrawals for all but four weeks this year. That's a turnaround from last year. Before the period ended Jan. 9, investors pulled cash from U.S. stock funds for 24 consecutive weeks, dating to mid-July.
Investors have been encouraged this year by the 11 percent gain in the Standard & Poor's 500 index. Stocks gained 1.7 percent during the week ended April 24 as some companies continued to report strong first-quarter earnings.
Investors have also been adding cash this year to funds investing primarily in foreign stocks, a trend that extended through the latest weeklong period. A net $1.91 billion was added, extending the streak of net deposits in that category to 16 weeks. The latest period was up from $646 million during the previous week.
Bonds:
Bond mutual funds have consistently attracted cash in recent years, a trend that extended into 2013. Investors deposited a net $5.76 billion into bond funds during the period ended April 24, up from the $1.51 billion intake during the previous week, according to ICI, a fund industry trade organization.
During the latest week, a net $5.63 billion was deposited into taxable bond funds, which primarily invest in corporate bonds. Investors deposited a net $133 million into municipal bond funds, which invest in bonds issued by state and local governments.
A net $1.36 billion was deposited into hybrid funds, which invest in both stocks and bonds.
Overall, investors deposited a net $8.42 billion into long-term mutual funds of all types during the week. That was up from net deposits of $5.44 billion in the previous week.
