Institutional demand powered net buying in U.S. equities over the last week, according to Bank of America’s weekly client flows, with corporate buybacks moving back into positive territory on a year-over-year basis for the first time since early 2025.
BofA clients were net purchasers of single stocks for the first time in three weeks, adding $1.1 billion, while equity exchange-traded funds attracted $2.2 billion of inflows, marking a tenth consecutive week of ETF buying.
Institutional clients were the main source of demand, sustaining a streak of five straight weeks of net purchases of equities. Hedge funds reversed course from the prior week and became net sellers, and retail investors also reduced positions for the second week in a row.
"Clients bought equities across all size segments," said BofA strategist Jill Carey Hall.
On the corporate side, the four-week average of buybacks by corporate clients increased 44% year-over-year, representing the first such annual rise since early 2025. Despite that improvement relative to a year ago, buyback activity eased slightly on a week-over-week basis and continues to run below its long-term average when measured as a percentage of market capitalization.
The trailing 52-week ratio of buybacks to market cap is at its weakest level since late 2023. The slowdown has been most evident in Technology, while Discretionary, Financials and Energy have registered year-to-date pickup in repurchase activity.
Sector flows showed buying across seven of eleven sectors, led by Industrials. Real Estate and Energy recorded the next-largest inflows, with Real Estate extending its buying streak to five consecutive weeks. By contrast, Health Care experienced the largest outflows, followed by Consumer Staples. Communication Services registered outflows for a fourth consecutive week. Technology registered only muted inflows after two weeks of net selling.
Hall reiterated the dominance of institutional demand: "Buying was driven by institutional clients, who have now bought equities for 5 straight weeks."
Within ETFs, investors favored Growth and Blend strategies, while Value funds moved into outflows for the first time in four weeks. Discretionary-focused ETFs drew their largest inflows since January 2025.
ETF purchases were broad across market-cap categories, with inflows into large-cap, small-cap and broad-market funds. Mid-cap ETFs, however, saw modest outflows. At the sector ETF level, Financials led the outflows, followed by Industrials.
This weekly snapshot from BofA highlights a continuation of institutional accumulation of U.S. equities and a tentative recovery in corporate repurchases on an annual basis. While buybacks have improved compared with a year ago, their pace relative to market capitalization remains subdued and the trailing 52-week metrics are at multi-year lows, signaling uneven support across sectors.