Global equity funds draw inflows for 11th week as upbeat earnings lift sentiment

Aug 7 (Reuters) - Global equity funds recorded inflows for an 11th consecutive week, as optimism about a strong earnings season and cooling ‌crude oil prices boosted investors' appetite for risk assets.

Investors poured a net $21.15 ‌billion into global equity funds for the week ended August 5, following roughly $27.72 billion in net ​purchases the previous week, according to LSEG Lipper data.

Amazon reported its strongest cloud growth in more than four years last week. Caterpillar, widely viewed as a bellwether for the global industrial economy, and Palantir Technologies posted strong results earlier this ‌week.

Earnings data from around 808 ⁠MSCI World constituent companies that have reported so far show that their combined profits for the latest quarter rose 40.9% from ⁠a year earlier, with about 75% beating analysts' forecasts.

By region, European equity funds attracted $12.52 billion—the largest weekly inflow since July 8—while Asian funds recorded $8.15 billion in inflows. ​U.S. funds, ​however, bucked the trend, with about $1.58 billion ​in outflows.

Among sectoral funds, inflows ‌into technology funds eased to a six-week low of $1.44 billion. Industrials, consumer discretionary and healthcare funds recorded net purchases of $1.08 billion, $710 million and $653 million, respectively.

Meanwhile, investors added a net $12.27 billion to global bond funds, marking their largest weekly net purchase in three weeks.

High-yield funds attracted $3.66 billion, the largest weekly inflow in five ‌weeks. Short-term bond funds and loan participation funds ​recorded inflows of $3.43 billion and $915 million, respectively.