US equity funds see outflows as investors take profits ahead of jobs data

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Aug 7 (Reuters) – U.S. equity funds recorded outflows in the week to August 5 as some investors cashed in gains ‌after a record-setting market rally and awaited Friday’s July jobs ‌report, a key input for Federal Reserve rate expectations.

Investors divested a net $1.58 billion worth ​of U.S. equity funds during the week, partly reversing the prior week’s $11.77 billion net investments, LSEG Lipper data showed.

The S&P 500 rebounded about 6.5% from last week’s low of 7,313.92 to reach a record high of ‌7,793.68 on Wednesday, buoyed ⁠by strong results from companies including Amazon, Caterpillar and Palantir Technologies.

Investors await the Labor Department’s July employment report ⁠for clues on the interest-rate outlook. Economists expect payrolls to have risen by 80,000 in July after a 57,000 gain in June, while unemployment ​is forecast ​to hold at 4.2%.

U.S. equity growth ​funds recorded net outflows of $5.5 ‌billion during the week, more than offsetting the $3.1 billion in inflows seen the previous week. Investors, however, made net purchases of $1.99 billion in value funds.

Weekly investment in sector funds, meanwhile, eased to a three-week low of $1.62 billion, as net purchases of technology funds fell to a ‌six-week low of $388 million.

Industrials, healthcare and ​consumer discretionary funds, however, attracted notable net ​inflows of $875 million, $866 million and $708 ​million, respectively.

U.S. bond funds attracted net weekly inflows of $6.52 ‌billion, with demand strengthening after $1.26 ​billion in net inflows ​the previous week.

Short-to-intermediate investment-grade funds, short-to-intermediate government and Treasury funds, and municipal debt funds led bond fund inflows, drawing net purchases ​of $2.05 billion, $1.3 billion ‌and $1.15 billion, respectively.

Money market funds also saw renewed interest, attracting $55.69 ​billion in inflows after three consecutive weeks of outflows.

(Reporting by ​Gaurav Dogra; Editing by Susan Fenton)

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