BofA clients invest $10 billion in stocks in the past week
Bank of America (BofA) Securities reported that its clients continued to purchase U.S. equities for the seventh consecutive week, despite a 2% drop in the S&P 500 index during this period.
Inflows totalled $10 billion, marking the second-largest amount since 2008 and the biggest since January 2017, reports Investing.com. Purchases were spread across both individual stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with a stronger focus on single stocks. Large-cap stocks saw the majority of buying activity, while small-cap stocks experienced more modest inflows.
Institutional and retail investors both increased their equity holdings, with institutions seeing their third consecutive week of buying, while retail investors made it their second week of increased activity. However, hedge funds were net sellers for the second week in a row.
The rolling four-week average of institutional inflows reached its highest point in nine months, following a typical pattern of renewed buying after October’s tax-loss selling by mutual funds. "Private clients typically are big sellers in December due to tax-loss selling but have been net buyers of ETFs this month while slightly reducing single-stock sales," BofA strategists, led by Jill Carey Hall, noted.
Corporate Buybacks and Sector Activity
Corporate buybacks have slowed during the past week but remain above seasonal norms. Year-to-date, buybacks are on track to reach record levels relative to the S&P 500's market cap.
Inflows were directed toward six of the 11 sectors, with Technology, Communication Services, and Industrials leading the way. Both Technology and Communication Services saw steady inflows over the past several weeks, while Industrials recorded their largest inflow since February 2022. Consumer staples also saw significant interest, with the highest inflows since April.
On the other hand, the Health Care and Consumer Discretionary sectors led the outflows, with Health Care experiencing withdrawals in four of the past five weeks.
ETF Trends
ETF purchases were spread across eight sectors, with Industrials and Technology ETFs seeing the most buying activity. Financial and Real Estate ETFs experienced the largest outflows.
Additionally, Honda Motor Co. Ltd. shares soared 13.55% in Tokyo trading, their biggest one-day gain since 2008.
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