NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investors in mutual funds based in the United States committed $602 million to municipal bond funds in the latest week, the most since mid-February, according to data released by the Investment Company Institute on Wednesday.
The inflows to municipal bond funds in the week ended May 15 reversed outflows of $263 million in the prior week, said ICI, a U.S. mutual fund trade organization. The latest inflows were the most since the second week of February.
Funds that hold taxable bonds pulled in $3.9 billion over the reporting period, down from $7.65 billion the prior week. The latest inflows, combined with the cash gains for municipal bond funds, led to total inflows of $4.5 billion for bond funds over the week.
Stock funds attracted $2.38 billion in new cash over the weekly reporting period, down from inflows of $3.42 billion the previous week. Funds that hold non-U.S. stocks pulled in about $2.26 billion, while funds that hold U.S. stocks gained just $121 million in inflows.
The benchmark S&P; 500 rose 1.6 percent over the reporting period. The S&P; 500 and Dow Jones industrial average closed at record highs on May 10, 14th, and 15th. Gains in the stock prices of large-capitalization companies such as Google, Bank of America, and Citigroup helped fuel rises over the period.
Hybrid funds, which can invest in stocks and fixed income securities, pulled in $1.6 billion in new cash, up slightly from inflows of about $1.55 billion the previous week.
(Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Dan Grebler)