By David Randall
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investors pulled nearly $3.3 billion out of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that hold U.S. stocks last week, snapping the longest streak of asset gains since July, according to data released Wednesday by the Investment Company Institute.
The pullback from the U.S. equity market came during a week in which companies such as Apple Inc said the coronavirus outbreak, now known as covid-19, will likely affect its quarterly results and could weigh on its supply chain.
Concerns about the global economic impact of the virus helped push the benchmark S&P 500 down nearly 7.3% since Feb 19, according to Refinitiv data. The index is now down nearly 3% since the start of the year.
For the year to date, investors have pulled $26.7 billion from funds that invest in U.S. stocks.
Fixed income funds garnered nearly $14.9 billion in new assets, continuing a winning streak that has pulled in nearly $119 billion into the category since the start of the year.
World stock funds, meanwhile, added slightly more than $3.5 billion in new assets, continuing a wining streak that began in mid-December.
(Reporting by David Randall; Editing by David Gregorio)
