European Equity Funds Notch Big Inflows in Week to April 6

(Reuters) – European equity funds attracted heavy inflows in the week ended April 6 as the Russia-Ukraine conflict whetted investor appetite for defence and energy stocks, while other regions posted outflows on concerns over unruly inflation.

European equity funds received a net $4.84 billion in the period, while U.S. and Asian equity funds faced outflows worth $0.93 billion and $0.15 billion, respectively, data from Refinitiv Lipper showed.

After ditching European stocks in March, investors have been pouring money into sectors such as energy and defence this month as they are poised to benefit from one of the deepest policy shifts in the region in decades.

Among global sector funds, tech funds drew $301 million in a third straight week of inflows, while financials, consumer discretionary and real estate funds posed outflows worth $3.3 billion, $708 million, and $673 million, respectively.

Global bond funds, meanwhile, witnessed outflows worth $2.08 billion after receiving $4.3 billion in the previous week.

Short- and medium-term bond funds faced a 13th straight week of outflows, worth $3.59 billion, while government bond funds lost $393 million in net selling after two weeks of inflows. Inflation-protected funds received $382 million, marking their sixth straight week of inflows. High-yield funds also saw net buying for a second straight week, receiving $2.04 billion.

Global money market funds attracted $4.63 billion worth of inflows, although the figure was 72% lower than the previous week.

Among commodity funds, precious metals funds received $318 million in a 12th straight week of net buying. On the other hand, energy funds lost $219 million in a second straight week of outflows. Data showed emerging market (EM) equity funds pulled in $4.93 billion, while EM bond funds drew $2.61 billion, with each seeing a 50% increase over the previous week.

(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra and Patturaja Murugaboopathy in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)