Global equity funds post seventh straight week of inflows

Nov 6 (Reuters) - Global equity funds attracted inflows for a seventh consecutive week through November 4, as major central banks held interest rates steady and crude oil prices declined, even as US and major Asian markets fell amid concerns over AI build-out costs.

Investors made net purchases of $38.63 billion in global equity funds, marking their largest weekly inflow since September 23, according to LSEG Lipper data.

The US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank left their policy rates unchanged last week, while the ECB hinted at another hike in December.

European equity funds drew $13.25 billion in net inflows, their largest weekly intake since August 12. US and Asian equity funds attracted $14.81 billion and $8.34 billion, respectively.

Falling oil and natural gas prices, which had raised European inflation since the Iran war began, boosted demand for European stocks and mutual funds. Benchmark Brent crude futures have fallen about 15.6% this week.

Europe’s STOXX 600 has edged up 0.05% so far this week, despite a 2.91% drop in the MSCI All Country World Index and a 4.69% decline in the MSCI All Country ex-Japan Asia Pacific Index.

Demand for technology-sector funds fell to a three-week low, with weekly net inflows of $623.61 million. Healthcare and financials, meanwhile, saw notable inflows of $1.33 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively.

Global bond funds saw net purchases of $9.91 billion, their largest weekly inflow since October 7.

Government bond funds recorded $3.07 billion in inflows, the highest level in four weeks. High-yield bond funds, euro-denominated bond funds and short-term bond funds also attracted significant inflows of $2.02 billion, $2 billion and $1.52 billion, respectively.

Global money market funds attracted a hefty $172.71 billion, their largest weekly inflow since April 2020.

Among commodity funds, gold and other precious-metal funds recorded inflows of $269.79 million, partly reversing the previous week’s $1.54 billion in outflows. Energy funds posted a third consecutive weekly inflow, totaling $327.31 million.

In emerging markets, equity funds recorded weekly net purchases of $1.91 billion, their fifth straight week of inflows. Bond funds, however, saw weekly outflows of $299.07 million, according to data covering 29,229 funds.