Jan 23 (Reuters) – Global equity funds recorded their largest outflows on record in the week to Wednesday, as heavy withdrawals from the U.S. and China outweighed a relatively strong showing in other regions, BofA Global Research said.
World stock funds saw $43.2 billion in outflows combined in the week through to Wednesday, with the U.S. seeing $16.8 billion in outflows and Chinese stocks seeing $49.2 billion in outflows, BofA said in its weekly roundup of flows in and out of world markets using data from EPFR.
The outflows in Chinese equities were the biggest on record, which BofA attributed to selling by the so-called “national team” of Chinese state-backed investors.
Chinese regulators in recent weeks have been taking action to slow the pace of market gains. [.SS]
Stocks around the world have also been hurt by the complicated geopolitical situation, most recently illustrated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on European allies until Washington was allowed to buy Greenland.
While those concerns have subsided after Trump said a framework on a future deal over Greenland has been reached, they revived talk of the “Sell America” trade that emerged in the aftermath of Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement last April, as investors look to diversify their portfolios.
European equities recorded their sixth-straight week of inflows while Japanese funds saw a $2.2 billion inflow, the biggest since October 2025, according to BofA.
Despite the Chinese weakness, global emerging markets equity funds recorded their fourth-consecutive week of increasing inflows.
Fixed-income flows remained resilient, with global funds bringing in $15.4 billion though slowing from $23.4 billion in inflows seen last week.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru, editing by Alun John and Sharon Singleton)
