$6.65 Billion Pulled From U.S. Equity Funds Ahead of AI Giants’ Results
Key Facts
Investors withdrew a net $6.65 billion from U.S. equity funds in the week ended October 28, 2026, as they awaited results from Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon and grew more cautious about AI trades, according to data reported by Reuters via Investing.com. The outflows followed a week in which U.S. funds recorded net inflows of $5.07 billion. In the preceding week, ended October 14, inflows totaled $13.01 billion, following withdrawals of $5.1 billion the week before that. The moves show clear week-to-week variation in U.S. fund flows during October. But the latest week’s withdrawals coincided with inflows to technology funds, highlighting the divergence in money flows across investment categories.
Globally, equity funds recorded net purchases of $10.19 billion during the same week, extending inflows to a sixth consecutive week. That total was below the $25.06 billion recorded the previous week, indicating that the pace of global buying slowed despite continuing. By contrast, investors poured $5.5 billion into technology sector funds in the week ended October 28. This came amid caution ahead of reports from major AI companies, including Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon. Net withdrawals from U.S. equity funds thus coincided with strong global purchases and inflows to technology funds.
The previous weeks offer a volatile picture of flows within the United States. In the week ended October 21, U.S. equity funds recorded net inflows of $5.07 billion, but that was about 62% less than the $13.37 billion in the week before. Flows that week were concentrated in large-cap U.S. equity funds, which attracted $8.63 billion. Small-cap equity funds, by contrast, recorded net withdrawals of $4.24 billion. In the week ended October 14, U.S. equity funds attracted $13.01 billion after outflows of $5.1 billion the previous week, while technology sector funds lost $5.21 billion. This sequence reflects differing flow directions across equity categories and weeks, before U.S. funds’ net flows turned negative in the week ended October 28.
These moves come as the Federal Reserve, on October 28, kept the target range for the federal funds rate at 3.75% to 4%. Officials approved the decision by a 10-to-2 majority, with the two dissenting members favoring a quarter-percentage-point increase in the range. On the economic front, U.S. real gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 3.4% in the third quarter of 2026, compared with 2.2% in the second quarter. The Bureau of Economic Analysis attributed the acceleration in growth mainly to faster investment and a shift to rising government spending, partly offset by a decline in exports. Imports also increased more in the third quarter than in the second.
Real final sales to private domestic purchasers rose at an annual rate of 4.9% in the third quarter, following a 4.6% increase in the second quarter, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In equity markets, the S&P 500 fell 1.2% on Friday, October 30, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.2% under pressure from technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also fell 162 points, or 0.3%, in the same session. Markets are awaiting the next U.S. GDP release on November 25, 2026, which will include the second estimate for the third quarter and corporate profits for the same period. The release follows a week marked by withdrawals from U.S. equity funds and anticipation of results from major technology companies.