Global equity fund inflows drop on higher US bond yields

(Reuters) - Demand for global equity funds shrank in the week through Jan. 1, as higher U.S. Treasury yields led to caution and investors took profits during the year-end trading lull.

Data from LSEG Lipper showed that investors added a net $4.93 billion worth of global equity funds, an 86% drop in inflows compared with about $35.1 billion worth of net purchases in the prior week.

The MSCI World index, which made a gain of over 15% in 2024, is down 1.5% this week after investors booked some profits following last year's surge in stock valuations.

The increase in bond yields also dampened interest in equities, as the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.641% last week, reaching its highest point since May 2.

By region, European, Asian, and U.S. equity funds garnered net purchases of $2.25 billion, $1.64 billion, and $490 million, respectively, though inflows decreased from the previous week in all three regions.

Sectoral equity funds experienced outflows for a fourth consecutive week, totalling $2.35 billion. The largest withdrawals from tech, healthcare, and industrial sectors amounted to $453 million, $375 million, and $346 million, respectively.

Safer money market funds remained popular for a second successive week as they attracted $72.99 billion, the largest weekly inflow in four weeks.

Global bond funds experienced modest inflows as investors purchased government bond funds worth a net $878 million. Loan participation funds also attracted $320 million, whereas corporate bond funds saw net outflows of $573 million.

In commodities, investors ditched $141 million worth of energy sector funds, the fourth consecutive week of selling. Gold and precious metals funds also witnessed outflows of about $149 million, in contrast to purchases of a net $1.25 billion, the previous week.

Data covering 29,579 emerging market funds indicated that investors extended withdrawals into a eighth straight week, with about $1.39 billion worth of net sales during the week. Bond funds also witnessed a net $870 million worth of outflows.

(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra and Patturaja Murugaboopathy in Bengaluru; editing by Barbara Lewis)