Investors decisively shifted capital away from U.S. equities toward international markets in February, signaling a notable divergence in regional allocations, according to a recent Bank of America report. Emerging market equities attracted the largest combined inflows from both active and passive funds, totaling more than $17.6 billion. The Asia-Pacific region followed, with inflows exceeding $14.9 billion. In contrast, U.S. stocks experienced the biggest outflow, with funds selling $69.5 billion in equities.

By sector, the consumer staples segment saw the strongest buying interest, with inflows surpassing $7.9 billion. The materials sector followed, recording over $5 billion in inflows. Meanwhile, software and media sectors faced substantial selling pressure, with outflows of $17.7 billion and $11 billion, respectively.

The report indicated that the largest long-position buys in global equities last month included Walmart (WMT.US), AbbVie (ABBV.US), Roche, and ASML (ASML.US). Major sells included AstraZeneca (AZN.US), Microsoft (MSFT.US), Apple (AAPL.US), and NVIDIA (NVDA.US).

Bank of America noted that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM.US) remains the most widely held stock among long-only funds globally, with a 92% ownership rate. It was followed by ARM (88%), Microsoft (84%), NVIDIA (74%), and Tencent Holdings (00700) (72%). Stocks combining high ownership and positive momentum continued to outperform the market. These included Broadcom (AVGO.US), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM.US), Samsung Electronics, Micron Technology (MU.US), SK Hynix, and Eli Lilly (LLY.US).