The stock markets have been selling since mid-February, wiping out around $ 6.5 trillion in market value, with the number of coronavirus cases increasing.
BofA analysts, analyzing weekly data from EPFR flow tracking specialist, said $ 23.3 billion had been withdrawn from equity funds and $ 12.6 billion had left bond funds, the most since December 2018.
The data also showed that risk-averse investors pulled $ 5.3 billion of emerging market stocks, the most in 30 weeks.
Investment-grade, high-yield, and emerging-market stocks have had the biggest draw since the “ taper tantrum ” of 2013 – the first U.S. Federal Reserve index would reduce a stimulus package implemented during the financial crisis.
Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank said it was “far too early” to declare the end of the stock market liquidation. It expects the S&P 500 to drop 15% to 20% from its last peak.
The benchmark for US stocks has so far dropped 10.7% to 3,023.94 points from the record highs it reached on February 19. Deutsche Bank sees the index bottom out “sometime” in the second quarter and recover to 3,250 points by the end of the year.
(Report by Thyagaraju Adinarayan; Editing by Larry King)