$ 39 billion .. Standard sale to investors for shares in a week

Bank of America Merrill Lynch said investors have pulled out of equity funds at a record pace over the past week with sales of $ 39 billion.

Outflows from investment grade bond funds also recorded a record high of $ 8.4 billion in the week ending Wednesday.

The US stock markets witnessed a hot week with US equity funds registering the second-largest weekly sales of $ 27.6 billion, the bank said in a note.

With the uncertainty surrounding Britain's exit from the EU growing, investors have so far withdrawn $ 9.8 billion from UK equity funds so far this year, higher than a year earlier.

However, inflows since the beginning of the year to Japanese equity funds amounted to $ 63.57 billion and emerging market shares $ 50.92 billion, which helped keep total inflows to equities positive for 2018 at $ 74 billion.

However, it was different for bond funds with higher investment ratings and higher returns since the beginning of the year to date with sales of $ 63 billion.

Investors returned to seek safety in government bonds as inflows to their funds reached $ 3.2 billion over the past week, up $ 20 billion from the previous 10 weeks and $ 46 billion from the start of the year to date.