It's Back to the Doghouse for U.S. Stock Funds

Equity funds are back in the doghouse. For the week ended July 25, investors pulled an estimated $2.13 billion from the funds, reversing the previous week's $95 million inflow, their first inflow since late May, according to the latest statistics from the Investment Company Institute. Since the beginning of the year, investors have yanked more than $57 billion from funds that invest long-term in U.S. equities. Foreign stock funds also took a lashing, losing $568 million in outflows for the week ended July 25. The outflow wiped out the previous week's $542 million inflow and represented the category's first weekly outflow since mid-May when non-U.S. stock funds lost $115 million.Interest in all other categories of funds sagged dramatically. Bond funds posted estimated inflows of $5.77 billion, down 11% from $6.46 billion a week earlier. And hybrid funds - those that invest in both stocks and fixed income securities - took in $737 million in estimated inflows, a 19% decrease from $905 million the week before. Overall, it was a lackluster week for mutual funds, posting estimated inflows of $3.81 billion, less than half the previous week's $8 billion infusion. The weekly fund flow estimates are derived from data covering more than 95% of industry assets, according to ICI. The statistics cover long-term mutual funds, those the ICI defines as investing in long-term instruments.