Fund investors dump U.S. stocks as recession worries mount

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investors retreated from the U.S. stock market by unloading nearly $11.8 billion from mutual funds and exchange traded funds that hold domestic equities last week, as concerns about the strength of the U.S. economy mounted, according to data released by the Investment Company Institute on Wednesday.

The $11.8 billion in outflows came during a week in which data showed that the U.S. manufacturing sector tumbled to a 10-year low in September, a sign that the trade war between the United States and China was weighing on the U.S. economy.

Over the last two weeks, investors have pulled more than $28 billion from U.S. stock funds, the largest pullback since the beginning of June. For the year to date, investors have pulled nearly $103 billion out of domestic equity funds.

At the same time, investors continued to gravitate to the perceived safety of bonds by sending another $8.5 billion into the category. For the year to date, investors have directed about $327.5 billion into bonds.

World stock funds lost slightly more than $2 billion in outflows, making it a 4-week losing streak for the category. For the year to date, investors have pulled nearly $40 billion out of world stock funds.