Bank of America clients ended a five-week run of net equity sales in the week that finished on July 3, becoming net purchasers of U.S. shares and equity ETFs by a combined $4 billion. The reversal was concentrated in single-stock purchases and was led by hedge fund clients, according to BofA's flow data.
Flow composition - Of the $4 billion in net buying, single stocks accounted for $3.1 billion, which BofA identified as the largest single-stock inflow since March. Equity ETFs contributed an additional $1.0 billion in net inflows for the week.
Hedge fund activity - Hedge fund clients were net buyers for the fourth consecutive week. Their four-week average net flows are at an all-time high in BofA's dataset that extends back to 2008. When adjusted for the size of the S&P 500, that four-week average ranks as the 15th-highest on record.
Institutional and retail client groups also recorded net buying for the week, joining hedge funds in reversing recent selling pressure. BofA's data show inflows across all three market-cap segments, with small- and micro-cap stocks delivering a record week for those categories.
Corporate buybacks and year-to-date context - Corporate repurchases slowed for a sixth consecutive week and fell to their lowest weekly level since February. On an annualized basis year-to-date, buybacks sit "slightly below full-year '25 levels and below '24 records, but above 2016-23 levels," BofA noted.
Sector-level moves - Consumer Discretionary led sector inflows, registering what BofA described as its largest single-stock inflow in the history of the bank's dataset and ranking ninth-largest when adjusted for market capitalization. That inflow came after four straight weeks of outflows for the sector.
Technology and Health Care saw notable buying as well, marking their first net inflows in three and six weeks, respectively. By contrast, Financials experienced the largest sector outflows and extended their streak of weekly outflows to seven consecutive weeks. Energy and Utilities also recorded outflows for the fifth and fourth straight weeks, respectively.
ETF behavior - Within the ETF landscape, clients showed a preference for large-cap and Blend funds. They sold across Growth and Value styles, and pulled money from mid-cap, small-cap and broad-market ETFs - the latter experiencing its first outflow since March. Financials ETFs drew the largest inflows among sector ETFs, a notable contrast to the outflows seen in Financials single stocks. Health Care ETFs registered their largest outflow since January 2025.
Longer-term context - Despite the positive net buying in the most recent week, BofA highlighted that hedge funds, institutional and retail clients are all net sellers when measured over the past 12 months.
This week's shift reinstates buying momentum after a sustained period of client selling, but it coexists with slowing buybacks and ongoing sector divergences that left Financials, Energy and Utilities on extended outflow trajectories.