Bank of America’s most recent equity client flow report indicates that clients were net sellers of U.S. equities last week, a move led by outflows from individual stocks even as purchasers continued to add to equity exchange-traded funds.
Single-stock selling totaled $2.8 billion, while clients purchased $0.6 billion of equity ETFs. Institutional clients were the primary sellers of single stocks for the second week running, and private clients continued to sell for a fourth consecutive week. By contrast, hedge funds were heavy net buyers, with their net flows ranking in the 98th percentile since 2008.
Flow behavior by market-cap showed selling pressure in large- and mid-cap names while buyers favored small caps. Notably, the four-week average for combined stock and ETF flows into small caps turned positive for the first time since late April.
Sector-level activity was uneven. Clients sold stocks in seven of 11 sectors, with Health Care and Financials registering the largest outflows; those two sectors have now seen outflows for three and four consecutive weeks, respectively. Technology stocks drew the biggest inflows last week after experiencing outflows in the prior week, and Communication Services enjoyed inflows for the first time in six weeks. Real Estate recorded the longest active buying streak among sectors, extending to seven straight weeks.
Bank of America strategists also highlighted a divergence in flows tied to the Energy theme since the conflict began in March. Industrials - described by the strategists as a more crowded and expensive area - accumulated substantially larger cumulative inflows (stock plus ETF) than Energy. Over the same period clients bought Energy ETFs while concurrently selling Energy stocks.
Within the ETF complex, investors showed a preference for Value and Blend exposures over Growth. ETF purchases spanned most size categories except mid-cap ETFs, which did not see net buying. Sector ETF leaders included Industrials and Financials, while Materials ETFs experienced their largest weekly outflows since July 2022. Technology sector ETFs were sold for a second straight week even as direct purchases of Technology stocks rose.
Separately, corporate buybacks by clients slowed for a third consecutive week, although the rolling four-week average rose to its highest point since late March. On a year-to-date basis, Bank of America reported that annualized buybacks by clients are running slightly below full-year 2025 levels and remain below 2024’s record pace, but are above buyback levels observed from 2016 through 2023.
Contextual note - The flow patterns described reflect the latest weekly snapshot reported by Bank of America and capture client behavior across single stocks, ETFs, and buyback activity without drawing causal conclusions beyond the reported figures.