Bank of America customers sold US stocks for the first time in three weeks, ending a two-week buying frenzy

According to the Zhitong Finance and Economics APP, as companies slow down their stock buyback pace, Bank of America (BAC.US) customers withdrew $4.6 billion from the US stock market last week, ending a two-week buying frenzy. Quantitative strategists like Jill Carey Hall wrote in a report to clients on Tuesday that apart from corporations, all major client groups were net sellers, with institutions and hedge funds that bought in the previous week leading the way in closing positions. This withdrawal of funds comes at a time when the market is facing uncertainty. The question of how long the risk appetite sentiment that has driven the S&P 500 index up by 18% this year can continue remains unresolved. This contrasts with the trend of active buying by clients in the previous two weeks. In the previous week, Bank of America's clients invested $2.7 billion in US stocks, leading to the best weekly performance of the S&P 500 index this year. The selling occurred in seven out of eleven industry sectors, with the technology sector standing out, experiencing outflows for the first time in three weeks. Meanwhile, the energy sector saw outflows for the fifth consecutive week, and the non-essential consumer goods sector experienced outflows for the first time in six weeks. The communication services sector once again emerged as a winner, continuing its trend of inflows for 21 consecutive weeks. While individual stock outflows occurred, clients bought various ETFs for the third consecutive week, covering all sizes, styles, and industry sectors except for mid-cap ETFs. Unlike individual stocks, technology ETFs attracted the most inflows, while energy ETFs experienced the largest outflows. At the same time, Bank of America's corporate clients slowed down their buyback activities last week, falling below seasonal levels for the first time in 24 weeks. However, according to the company's data, buyback activities so far this year are still on track to set a historical record