Investors pile into stocks and bonds, shed cash – BofA

A screen displays the Dow Jones industrial Average after the close of trading on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S. March 15, 2023. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File photo

LONDON  – Investors piled into bonds and stocks in the week to Wednesday, while pulling $17.6 billion out of cash, according to a report on Friday from Bank of America (BofA) Global Research.

Weekly inflows to bonds totaled $12.1 billion, while stocks saw inflows of $11.6 billion. Investors also shed $500 million worth of gold, BofA said citing figures from funds data provider EPFR.

The largest amount in 16 weeks was seen flowing to U.S. Treasuries, totaling $8.7 billion, while bank loans clocked their third consecutive week of inflows, the longest streak since May 2022.

Zooming into equities flows, investors bought tech and sold healthcare stocks as defensives were “shunned”, the report found.

The BofA bull & bear indicator, which measures market sentiment, rose to 3.5 from 3.2 on stronger bond inflows and improvement in credit market technicals, the report said.