The withdrawal from US equities comes amid uncertainty about how much longer the risk-on momentum that pushed the S&P 500 up 18% this year can continue. It’s also a departure from the buying clients had previously done over the past two weeks.
Bank of America clients pulled money from US stocks for the first time in three weeks, paring their exposure in the asset class that continued to hover near a record.
Outflows were on display among all major clients groups — excluding corporates — with US$4.6 billion ($5.99 billion) exiting US stocks last week, the bank’s quantitative strategists including Jill Carey Hall wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday. The 500-member index finished the week at 5,634.61, or 0.9% away from an all-time high.
