Stock fund inflows plummet after rare gain- ICI

By Sam Forgione
NEW YORK, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Investors in U.S.-based mutual
funds exited stocks after a rare week of inflows as concerns
about Spain and Greece's economies continued to weigh on
markets, data from the Investment Company Institute showed on
Wednesday.
All equity funds had estimated net outflows of $2.7 billion
in the week ended July 25, reversing the previous week's inflows
of $637 million, said ICI, a U.S. mutual fund trade
organization.
Equity funds that target U.S. stocks had $2.13 billion in
outflows, while funds that target foreign stocks broke a
nine-week inflow streak with outflows of $568 million.
The benchmark S&P 500 fell 2.54 percent over the
period as Spanish borrowing costs soared and concerns that
Greece might not be able repay its debts troubled markets.
Bond funds had net inflows of $5.77 billion, down from the
previous week's inflows of $6.46 billion but still far outpacing
equity funds for the eighth consecutive week.
Hybrid funds, which can invest in stocks and fixed income
securities, had inflows of $737 million, down from the previous
week's inflows of $905 million.
The following table shows a breakdown of ICI flows for the
past five weeks (all figures in millions of dollars)

6/27/2012 7/3/12 7/11/12 7/18/2012 7/25/2012
Total Equity -1,139 -2,865 -542 637 -2,697
Domestic -1,476 -3,166 -1,469 95 -2,129
World 337 301 927 542 -568
Hybrid* 18 593 1,752 905 737
Total Bond 4,321 1,354 6,373 6,460 5,765
Taxable 3,244 484 5,202 5,114 4,293
Municipal 1,077 870 1,171 1,346 1,472
Total 3,199 -919 7,583 8,002 3,805
*Hybrid funds can invest in stocks and/or fixed income
securities.