Global equity funds see outflows for second straight week

(Reuters) -Global equity funds saw money outflows for a second straight week in the seven days to June 25 as investors booked profits near record market highs and turned cautious ahead of key U.S. economic output and inflation reports.

Investors divested a net $20.87 billion worth of global equity funds during the week, the most for a week since March 19, data from LSEG Lipper showed.

The MSCI World Index reached 911.56 on Friday, hitting a new record for the fourth successive day on optimism over a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

U.S. equity funds saw a net $20.48 billion worth of outflows, the largest weekly withdrawal in three months.

European funds also registered a net $2.61 billion worth of outflows, while Asian funds attracted about $857 million, the first weekly inflow in three weeks.

The global sectoral funds segment saw about $2.56 billion in net outflows during the week, with investors ending four weeks of buying.

They withdrew a net $2.67 billion from the technology sector, the most since March 12. In contrast, the industrial sector attracted a net $1 billion, the 11th weekly inflow in a row.

At the same time, demand for debt funds cooled to a nine-week low, with inflows at a net $4.69 billion during the week.

Investors hunted for yield as they pumped $4.45 billion into high-yield bond funds, the most for a week since October 2024.

Global money market funds saw a third consecutive week of outflows as a net $10.62 billion was withdrawn.

Gold and precious metals commodity funds attracted money for a fifth successive week, with a net $1.67 billion of inflows. The energy segment also saw a net $375 million of inflows.

In emerging markets, bond funds attracted $2.67 billion in a ninth consecutive week of net inflows. Equity funds, however, saw a net $1.11 billion of outflows, data for a combined 29,677 funds showed.

(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra in Bengaluru. Editing by Mark Potter)