SPY•Major US stock indexes red; Nasdaq off the most, down ~1%
Utilities is the weakest S&P 500 sector; energy leads the gainers
Euro STOXX 600 index off ~0.4%
Dollar rallies ~0.5%; gold down >1.5%; US crude down ~2%; bitcoin off >2%
US 10-year Treasury yield jumps to ~5.09%, hits fresh highs back to 2007
Earlier on Live Markets:
BofA clients returned to the buy side last week after slashing equity exposure the week before. Even with the S&P 500 .SPX edging down about 0.1%, clients were net buyers of US equities, picking up roughly $3 billion of stocks and equity ETFs.
Institutions led the buying and have now been net buyers in three of the past four weeks, BofA Securities strategist Jill Carey Hall said in a note published Wednesday. Hedge funds were buyers as well, while retail investors remained sellers for an eighth straight week.
Mid-caps stood out. BofA clients bought mid- and small/micro-cap stocks while trimming large caps, with mid-caps seeing record inflows. Hall noted that BofA favors mid-caps in the second half, arguing they offer a similar earnings recovery story to small caps but with less exposure to rate-hike risks.
Meanwhile, corporate buybacks cooled for a second straight week. Year-to-date activity remains below 2024-25 levels, though still above longer-term historical averages. Rolling 52-week buybacks as a share of S&P 500 market capitalization are now at their lowest level since August 2021.
Sector flows were mixed. Clients were net sellers in seven of the 11 sectors, led by Industrials, which saw the largest weekly outflows in BofA's data history dating back to 2008.
Tech and Healthcare, however, attracted the strongest inflows, with Healthcare posting record buying.
ETF flows were broadly constructive. Clients bought funds across major investment styles and market-cap categories. Technology ETFs led inflows, while Energy ETFs saw the heaviest selling.
