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CLIENTS BOUGHT STOCKS, SOLD ETFS IN LATEST WEEK – BOFA

Bank of America’s clients bought stocks in the latest week with purchases led by hedge funds and retail investors, but equity ETFs saw outflows, said analysts Jill Carey Hall and Tyson Dennis-Sharma.

Hedge funds purchased stocks after selling the previous week. Private clients were also buyers and have purchased the assets for 25 of the past 26 weeks, Bank of America said. Institutional clients were sellers for the fourth straight week.

Corporate client buybacks decelerated on the week, meanwhile, and were lower than typical seasonal levels for the third consecutive week. The bank notes that buybacks typically decelerate through late June, after peaking at the end of earnings season.

Financials, consumer discretionary and industrials led sector purchases, with clients buying stocks in six sectors. Tech saw the biggest outflows for the third straight week, with all major client groups, including institutional investors, hedge funds and retail investors, selling the sector. Cyclical sectors saw bigger inflows than defensive sectors.

Meanwhile ETFs saw outflows for the second consecutive week. Value and growth ETFs saw buying, while blend was sold. Broad market and mid-cap ETFs also saw inflows, while large and small-cap funds had outflows.

Sector-wise, tech also took the brunt of ETF selling, seeing the seventh straight week of outflows, while industrials, health care and financials ETFs saw the biggest inflows.

(Karen Brettell)

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