Investors pour $5.4B into stock-fund buys

Investors in mutual funds committed $5.4 billion to stock funds in the latest week on signals that the Federal Reserve would maintain its bond buying for some time.

The inflows in the week ended Nov. 20 marked the sixth straight week in which investors have poured new cash into stock funds, according to data released this week by the Investment Company Institute, a mutual fund trade organization.

Funds that mainly hold stocks of companies outside the United States attracted $4.39 billion, marking the biggest weekly inflows into those funds since February. Funds that mainly hold U.S. stocks, meanwhile, attracted $1 billion, marking their weakest showing in five weeks.

While U.S. stocks hit record highs over the weekly period, global stocks outperformed. MSCI's world equity index rose 1 percent, while the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index fell a slight 0.04 percent over the period in response to dips later in the week.

Investors pulled $3.2 billion out of bond funds. The latest outflows were the smallest, however, in four weeks. Investors have poured billions into stock funds every month this year through October to capitalize on the rally in U.S. stocks while souring on bond funds in recent months on fears over the Fed's next policy move, ICI data show. -- Reuters