Global equity funds attracted a net $23.47 billion in the week ended April 8, nearly double the roughly $12.11 billion recorded the prior week, LSEG Lipper data showed. The uptick coincided with a two-week ceasefire in the Middle East that market participants said raised hopes of a resumption of shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Asian equity markets were particularly strong, set for their best week in more than three years with gains exceeding 7% over the period. Regional buying was reflected in fund flows: U.S. equity funds drew $9.76 billion of net inflows, a rise of almost 80% from the $5.42 billion of net purchases in the previous week. European funds and Asian funds posted net inflows of $9.1 billion and $2 billion, respectively.
Sector-level activity was notable as well. Net purchases into equity sectoral funds reached $4.79 billion, the largest weekly total since February 18. Investors allocated $3.88 billion to technology sector funds, $1.36 billion to industrial sector funds and $530 million to utility sector funds during the week.
Fixed income and short-term products also saw renewed investor interest. Global bond funds recorded weekly net investments of $13.87 billion, partly reversing $19.25 billion of outflows from the prior week. Short-term bond funds and government bond funds recorded net gains of $7.5 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively, after experiencing outflows previously.
After two weeks without net inflows, money market funds returned to positive territory with $72.05 billion of net inflows in the latest week.
Commodities were not left out of the buying. Gold and other precious metals commodity funds registered a second consecutive weekly inflow, totaling a net $1.9 billion.
Emerging market instruments also attracted fresh capital after a stretch of selling. Investors put a net $2.77 billion into emerging market equities and $228 million into emerging market bonds following four consecutive weeks of net redemptions. These figures come from combined data covering 28,765 funds.
The flow patterns during the week reflected a broad-based reallocation across regions, sectors and asset classes, coinciding with improved market sentiment tied to regional developments in the Middle East.