Third largest since 2008! US stocks saw single-week outflows of $11 billions, technology stocks hit hardest

Zhitong Finance APP has learned that last week, institutional investors sold off individual stocks extensively, with a total net outflow of $11 billion from U.S. equities. The funds withdrew mainly from the technology sector, marking the third-largest single-week outflow of individual stocks in Bank of America's statistical history.

Bank of America strategist Jill Carey Hall wrote in a recent report that the main selling pressure came from the technology sector, which recorded its fourth-largest weekly outflow since 2008. At the same time, the four-week rolling average of capital flows into tech stocks turned negative for the first time since July.

Out of 11 sectors, nine experienced capital outflows. The communication services and industrial sectors also saw substantial selling—the latter registering a net capital outflow for the tenth consecutive week—while the materials and real estate sectors were the only two to achieve net capital inflows.

This round of capital flight from individual stocks was caused by institutions reducing their positions for a second consecutive week. Hedge funds and retail investors, on the contrary, became net buyers, marking the first time since the end of July that retail funds have flowed back into the stock market.

Bank of America noted that despite heavy sell-offs of individual stocks, there remains strong demand for overall market exposure. Clients injected funds into stock ETFs for the fifteenth consecutive week, totaling $3.2 billion. The capital favored value and blended funds over growth funds, while rotating out of the technology sector into healthcare ETFs.