* Break in selling streak was short-lived
Last week, during which the S&P 500 was down 0.2%, BofAML clients returned to selling US stocks, following a week of net buying. Previously, clients had sold stocks for 19 consecutive weeks, the longest selling streak in our data history. Net sales of $3.8bn last week were the largest since mid-April, with selling led by institutional clients (the biggest sellers during the majority of the selling streak—see Chart 3). Private clients were also net sellers; this group has sold stocks for the last eighteen consecutive weeks, though in lesser magnitude vs. institutional clients. Meanwhile, hedge funds were net buyers last week after selling stocks in the prior two weeks. Small, mid and large caps all saw outflows. Buybacks by our corporate clients picked up slightly last week, but still remain weak, with
the four-week average tracking its lowest since January 2015.
* Broad-based single stock selling; only ETFs saw inflows
Clients sold single stocks across all ten sectors last week. Only ETFs saw net buying, as they have for the past five weeks. Net sales were the most sizeable in Health Care—which has seen among the largest and most consistent sales this year amid uncertainty over the US election and a positioning unwind—and Financials, which was the worst-performing sector last week as expectations for the next rate hike were further pushed out. Year-todate, clients have been cumulative net sellers of single stocks in all sectors except Telecom.
* Other notable flows: Big mid-cap outflows
• Energy, Health Care and Utilities saw net selling by institutional clients, hedge funds and private clients alike last week. No sector saw net buying by all three groups.
• Net sales of mid-caps last week were notably the fifth-largest in our data history (since ’08), and the largest in three months.
• Pension fund clients were net buyers of US stocks last week, following a week of net selling. Net buying was driven by ETFs and Tech stocks; Health Care stocks saw the biggest net sales. This group remains a net buyer of stocks year-to-date, which was true in 2015 and 2014 as well. See Pension fund flows for details.