BofA clients sell equities for 7th week, institutional outflows at record high

Investing.com -- Bank of America (BofA) said its clients continued to sell U.S. equities last week, with institutional outflows reaching record levels.

Clients sold U.S. equities for the seventh straight week, driven by heavy single-stock outflows of $6.4 billion. By contrast, equity exchange-traded fund (ETF) activity was muted, with net buying of just $0.1 billion.

BofA said institutional clients recorded their largest net selling week on record, marking a fifth consecutive week of outflows, while hedge fund clients were net buyers for a fifth straight week and private clients bought equities for a second week after sustained selling in November and December.

Outflows were concentrated in large-cap stocks, although BofA noted that single-stock flows were positive in small and micro-cap names.

Corporate client buybacks slowed slightly on the week, but the four-week average remained at its highest level since April. Trailing 52-week buybacks as a share of market capitalization were described as the lowest since early 2024 and broadly in line with the long-term average since 2010.

Sector flows were led by a sharp sell-off in Financials, which saw the largest outflows in BofA’s history and the seventh largest when measured as a share of market capitalization.

Technology recorded the next-largest outflows, extending its run of weekly selling to three. On the other hand, Consumer Staples attracted their largest inflows on record, while Communication Services and Real Estate also saw net buying.

In ETFs, fixed income funds saw a record inflow week, while equity ETF flows were modest. Within equities, clients bought Growth ETFs but sold Value for a second straight week and Blend ETFs for the first time since early October.

Clients sold equity ETFs across six of the eleven sectors, with the heaviest outflows in Technology and Communication Services, while inflows were concentrated in Health Care and Consumer Staples.