Bank of America: Clients have been net selling US stocks for three consecutive weeks, but ETF funds are pouring in against the market trend

According to the latest report released by the global research team of Bank of America on Tuesday, its clients have shown a trend of overall net selling of US stocks for the third consecutive week, leading to a 0.8% decline in the S&P 500 index. This week, clients withdrew as much as $3.3 billion from the stock market, a trend that is in line with further outflows of individual stock funds, while at the same time, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw net inflows of funds. It is understood that institutional clients continue to lead the market's selling pressure, which has been the case for the third consecutive week. At the same time, hedge fund clients, who played the role of sellers last week, have now turned into net buyers. From a sector perspective, the information technology sector experienced the largest outflow of funds last week, while the communication services sector saw the largest inflow of funds. Both the financial and industrial sectors have seen net outflows of funds for the third consecutive week. Nevertheless, six sectors in the S&P index still saw net inflows of funds this week, including communication services, non-essential consumer goods, essential consumer goods, healthcare, real estate, and utilities. In terms of ETFs, Bank of America's clients have been net buyers of stock ETFs for the eighth consecutive week, with inflows covering 6 of the 11 S&P index sectors. In particular, ETFs focused on technology have been the top inflows for the second consecutive week. On the other hand, healthcare ETFs recorded the most outflows of funds. Fund flows have also been seen across different size sectors, including large-cap and small-cap stocks, as well as large-cap funds such as S&P 500 index ETFs and all major style sectors, including growth ETFs and value ETFs. In conclusion, despite some sectors facing outflows of funds, investors still maintain interest in certain areas, especially in communication services and some consumer goods sectors. At the same time, the flow of funds in ETFs shows investors' preferences for specific sectors and styles. Although certain sectors such as healthcare ETFs have experienced outflows of funds, overall, investors' purchasing behavior in ETFs reflects optimism towards the market and a focus on specific areas