Global equity funds recorded their second consecutive week of net inflows as investors continued to favour stocks, encouraged by expectations for strong artificial intelligence investment and signs of easing inflation in the United States.
Equity funds attracted net inflows of $34.76 billion in the week through September 30, according to LSEG Lipper data. The amount was lower than the $44.31 billion recorded in the previous week, but marked another period of strong demand for equities.
Investor sentiment was supported in part by optimism over spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure. Micron Technology forecast quarterly revenue above analysts’ estimates on Wednesday, pointing to continued demand for memory chips used in AI applications.
Goldman Sachs said the largest US hyperscale technology companies are expected to spend about $800 billion on capital expenditure in 2026. Consensus forecasts put their combined spending at around $1.1 trillion in 2027.
The bank said strong revenue backlogs and constraints on supply were supporting continued investment. It also noted that cloud revenue growth among major providers had accelerated sharply this year, adding to expectations for sustained spending on AI-related infrastructure.
US economic data also helped support risk appetite. A Commerce Department report released on Wednesday showed that US inflation rose less than expected in August, while price pressures in July were revised to a more moderate level than initially reported.
The softer inflation figures reduced expectations that the Federal Reserve would need to raise interest rates again in October, helping to improve sentiment toward riskier assets even as bond yields remained elevated.
US equity funds received net inflows of $20.6 billion during the week, marking their second consecutive week of purchases. European equity funds attracted $6.19 billion, while Asian equity funds recorded inflows of $6.16 billion.
Sector-focused funds showed a different trend, recording net outflows of $919.7 million. Technology funds suffered withdrawals of $2.63 billion after three consecutive weeks of inflows. Financial funds attracted $1.13 billion, while utility funds received $468 million.
Global bond funds also recorded a second straight week of inflows, attracting $4.76 billion. That was significantly below the $9.24 billion received during the previous week.
Short-term bond funds registered $5.43 billion of inflows, while government bond funds attracted $4.13 billion. High-yield bond funds, however, recorded outflows of $2.29 billion.
Money market funds experienced the largest movement among the major asset categories, with net withdrawals of $116.52 billion, the biggest weekly outflow since April 15.
Gold and precious-metals funds attracted $275.2 million, their smallest inflow in three weeks. Energy funds recorded $559 million in outflows after receiving $89.3 million the previous week.
