US equity funds draw inflows despite market pressures

Aug. 21 (Reuters) - U.S. investors were net buyers of equity funds for a second straight week through August 19, supported by a strong earnings season and cooler inflation data, even as a bond-market selloff and rising oil prices weighed on markets.

Investors bought a net $11.72 billion of U.S. equity funds during the week, the largest weekly inflow since July 29, LSEG Lipper data showed.

Anthropic projected strong revenue growth earlier this week, adding to fund investors' enthusiasm over a robust earnings season in which about 85% of the 468 S&P 500 companies that have reported results beat average analyst estimates, according to LSEG data.

Investors await Nvidia's NVDA.O results next week for clues on demand for AI infrastructure and data-center revenue.

Major U.S. indices, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI, S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC, meanwhile, fell 1.32%, 0.87% and 1.00%, respectively, on Thursday as rising Treasury yields and a rally in crude oil prices dented risk appetite.

U.S. bond funds attracted net inflows of $9.92 billion during the week, the largest weekly total since July 15.