Investors cut investments in equity funds for the first time in two months amid U.S. war
Global equity funds recorded their first outflow in 8 weeks due to the conflict in the Middle East/Photo: x.com/NYSE
Global investors reduced their investments in equity funds in the seven-day period ended March 4: it happened for the first time in eight weeks, Reuters reported citing data from LSEG Lipper. The outflow of money from funds amounted to about $1.44 billion. The main blow fell on U.S. equity funds, from which investors withdrew $21.92 billion - this is the largest weekly outflow since January 7, the agency writes.
The growing conflict between the US and Israel with Iran has increased fears of an oil price spike, which would raise inflation risks and thus could delay interest rate cuts, Reuters explained. In this environment, the MSCI World global equity index fell more than 2.5 percent this week, which could be its worst period since early April 2025, the agency added.
At the same time, investors increased investments in protective assets. Inflows into money market funds amounted to $20.22 billion, and into global bond funds - $16.12 billion, which was the ninth consecutive week of net purchases. At the same time, inflows into European equity funds slowed to $8.8 billion, while Asian funds attracted $7.43 billion, Reuters concluded.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
