Bank of America’s clients returned to net buying of US equities during the week ended 3 July, bringing an end to a five-week run of net selling, with hedge funds leading the rebound, according to a report by Investing.com.
According to BofA’s latest flow data, clients purchased a net $4bn of US equities and equity exchange-traded funds (ETFs) over the week. The inflows were driven primarily by individual stocks, which attracted $3.1bn – the strongest weekly buying since March – while equity ETFs recorded a further $1bn of net inflows.
Hedge funds were the most active buyers, extending their net buying streak to four consecutive weeks. BofA said the group’s four-week average net inflows have reached the highest level in its records, which date back to 2008. Institutional and retail investors also recorded net purchases during the week.
Buying was broad-based across market capitalisations, with large-, mid- and small-cap stocks all attracting inflows. Small- and micro-cap companies experienced particularly strong demand, with BofA describing the week as a record period for those segments.
Despite the improvement in investor flows, corporate share buybacks continued to moderate, declining for a sixth consecutive week to their lowest level since February. BofA noted that the annualised pace of buybacks this year remains slightly below 2025 levels but continues to exceed the averages recorded between 2016 and 2023.
At the sector level, Consumer Discretionary attracted the strongest inflows, reversing four consecutive weeks of selling and posting the largest single-stock inflow for the sector since BofA began tracking the data. Technology and Health Care also returned to positive territory after several weeks of outflows.
Financials was the weakest-performing sector, extending its run of net outflows to seven weeks. Energy and Utilities also remained under pressure, recording their fifth and fourth consecutive weeks of net selling, respectively.
ETF investors showed a different pattern of activity. Large-cap and blend-style funds attracted inflows, while growth, value, mid-cap, small-cap and broad-market ETFs all experienced net outflows. Financials ETFs were among the strongest performers despite continued selling of individual financial stocks, while Health Care ETFs posted their largest weekly outflow since January 2025.
Although the latest data points to renewed appetite for US equities, BofA noted that hedge funds, institutional investors and retail clients all remain net sellers when viewed over the past 12 months.
