Market Watch: Investors putting money back into stock-market funds, but flows still solidly negative for 2019

Article by William Watts in The Wall Street Journal Market Watch

Another round of stock-market gains saw investors add fresh money to equity funds in the latest week, data showed Friday, though flows remain solidly negative for the year to date.

Flows into equities came to $9.7 billion in the weekly period ending Nov. 13, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Of that, $14.6 billion moved into exchange-traded funds, while mutual funds saw $5 billion in outflows. Bond funds, meanwhile, continued to see inflows across categories.

Heavy outflows from equity funds have been a feature of the market even as stocks have roared back from a late 2018 selloff, sending the S&P 500 up more than 24% so far this year, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has rallied nearly 20%.

In the chart below, BofA Merrill Lynch notes that for every $100 of redemptions from equity funds so far this year, $15 has returned over the past three weeks.

To read this article in Market Watch and view the relating chart, click here.