Cash pulled from stock funds 16th straight week
WASHINGTON (AP) — Investors withdrew money from stock mutual funds for the 16th consecutive week during the period ended Nov. 7. Bond funds continued to attract new money, as they have on all but one week this year.
The movement of cash was in line with the conservative approach that many investors have taken since the financial crisis of 2008. Money has consistently been withdrawn from stock mutual funds and added to lower-risk bond funds.
Stocks:
Investors withdrew a net $2.12 billion from U.S. stock funds, the Investment Company Institute said in a preliminary report Wednesday. Withdrawals have exceeded deposits for 16 weeks in a row, dating to July 18.
Cash was pulled out during the latest week as the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index fell 1.3 percent.
The ICI said a net $300 million was deposited into funds investing primarily in foreign stocks. That snapped a 15-week string of net withdrawals from foreign stock funds, dating to mid-July. Those funds attracted cash through most of the first half of this year.
Bonds:
Investors deposited a net $7.5 billion into bond funds, which have attracted new cash in all but one week so far this year. The latest week's total is up from the $2.59 billion in net deposits during the previous week.
Most of last week's bond fund total was from cash flowing into taxable bond funds, which primarily invest in corporate bonds. Those funds attracted $6.42 billion in new cash. Municipal bond funds took in a net $1.08 billion. Those funds invest in bonds issued by state and local governments.
A net $553 million was deposited into hybrid funds, which invest in both stocks and bonds.
Overall investors deposited a net $6.24 billion into long-term mutual funds of all types during the week, compared with net withdrawals of $571 million in the previous week.
