Inflation and interest rate concerns are heating up! Global equity funds now have the biggest weekly net outflow in 9 months, and US equity funds have experienced capital outflows for the fourth week in a row

The Zhitong Finance App learned that since rising crude oil prices have heightened concerns about inflation, and market expectations of the Fed's interest rate hike also made investors more cautious before announcing its policy decisions, LSEG Lipper's data shows that global equity funds recorded a net outflow of US$23.21 billion in the week ending September 16, which is the largest weekly capital outflow since December 17, 2025. Among them, the US equity fund recorded a net outflow of US$31.44 billion, which was the fourth consecutive week of capital outflow, which was basically the same as the net outflow of about US$32 billion the previous week. European equity funds recorded a net outflow of $295 million. Asian funds, on the other hand, attracted a net inflow of 6.26 billion US dollars.

This week, crude oil prices once rose to a four-month high, increasing concerns about inflation and boosting US Treasury yields, putting pressure on funds that focus on growth assets. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday and sent a signal that monetary policy may need to be further tightened in the future to curb inflation driven by rising energy costs associated with the Middle East war.

Meanwhile, the weekly capital inflow to global equity sector funds rose to a six-week high of US$4.49 billion. Technology, finance and non-essential consumer goods funds attracted inflows of $1.94 billion, $1.31 billion, and $621 million, respectively.

In the US market, equity sector funds recorded $2.29 billion in capital inflows during the week, the highest level in seven weeks. The finance, non-essential consumer goods and technology sectors attracted net purchases of US$1.37 billion, US$795 million and US$775 million, respectively. In emerging markets, equity funds recorded outflows for the second week in a row, totaling US$1.61 billion.

Global bond funds attracted $855 million in capital inflows, the lowest single week since April 1. Investors withdrew $3.85 billion from high-yield bond funds and $1.1 billion from euro-denominated bond funds. Government bond funds received inflows of US$2.96 billion, while short-term bond funds attracted US$1.96 billion in capital inflows.

Money market funds recorded an outflow of $77.42 billion, ending two consecutive weeks of net buying momentum. In terms of commodity funds, gold and other precious metals funds attracted $1.17 billion in capital inflows, and recorded inflows in the 9th of the past 10 weeks. The Energy Fund recorded an outflow of US$148 million in the week, compared with an inflow of US$211 million in the previous week.