Bank of America Securities reported that its clients were heavy net sellers of U.S. equities last week, marking one of the largest selloffs on record and driven primarily by institutional investors.
Total single-stock sales reached $10.9 billion, the highest level since November 2022 when measured as a percentage of the S&P 500’s market capitalization, according to the bank’s data. In contrast, equity exchange-traded funds (ETFs) attracted $0.9 billion in inflows.
Institutional investors led the selling after having been net buyers the previous week, with their outflows marking the largest since September 2015. Hedge funds and private clients, however, continued to buy — for the second and fourth consecutive weeks, respectively.
Bank of America also observed a slowdown in corporate share repurchases, even though buybacks typically accelerate during earnings season. The bank said trailing 52-week repurchases as a share of market capitalization fell to their lowest point since April 2024.
“Our S&P 500 ‘26 EPS forecasts assume a slightly lower contribution from buybacks vs recent years,” BofA strategist Jill Carey Hall said in a note.
Selling was most pronounced among large-cap stocks, while clients also trimmed mid-cap holdings but added to small caps for a second consecutive week. Outflows were particularly steep in Technology and Financials, which saw “record outflows” — the biggest since July 2023 and March 2022, respectively, relative to sector market caps.
Hall added that all client groups sold Technology shares, while both institutional and retail investors pared back their exposure to Financials.
Only Communication Services and Consumer Staples saw inflows, with the latter extending a four-week buying streak. Meanwhile, Materials, a recently favored sector, recorded its first outflow since early September.
Despite the widespread stock selling, equity ETFs continued to see solid demand, with inflows spanning large-, mid-, and small-cap funds across most investment styles. Clients added to ETFs in nine of eleven sectors, led by Technology and Industrials, while reducing positions in Staples and Energy funds.