Bank of America: Net sell-off of US stocks hits record high, outflow of technology sector reaches highest level since 2008.

The US stock market experienced severe volatility last week, with investor sentiment clearly shifting. The latest fund flow data from Bank of America shows that last week witnessed a record level of net selling of US stocks, and the S&P 500 Index recorded its largest weekly drop in over a year. Data from Bank of America strategist Jill Carey Hall shows that clients sold a net total of $14.4 billion worth of US stocks last week (excluding net inflows from ETFs), with single stock outflows reaching a record high of $14.2 billion. Institutional investors led the selling spree, with the largest outflows since mid-March 2025; hedge funds and private clients also reduced positions consecutively, with private clients' selling being the strongest since November 2024. Despite the large-scale net selling of individual stocks, stock ETFs continued their 11-week trend of net inflows, recording a modest $300 million in inflows last week, indicating that some investors still choose to maintain market exposure through passive tools. According to CCTV News, on the 10th local time, US President Trump stated at the White House that the US would strike Iran and it would be "very fierce". This statement heightened geopolitical risks, further impacting market sentiment. Tech stocks experienced the largest outflow of funds ever Selling pressure focused on large-cap stocks, especially in the tech sector. Bank of America data shows that the outflow of funds from tech stocks was the largest since the establishment of their database in 2008, becoming the most prominent feature of this market adjustment. Against the backdrop of significant selling, clients sold eight of the eleven S&P sectors. The communication services sector also saw outflows, but to a relatively limited extent. Meanwhile, the industrial, real estate, and utilities sectors attracted inflows against the trend, with real estate recording six consecutive weeks of net inflows, demonstrating the relative resilience of defensive assets. Funds rotating towards small-caps and value styles This round of selling pressure is not a wholesale exodus from the stock market, but rather shows clear style rotation characteristics. Data shows that while clients significantly reduced positions in large-cap stocks, they turned to small and mid-cap stocks, reflecting a tendency to avoid valuation risk. In terms of ETF fund flows, investors preferred value and hybrid strategies while cutting back on growth exposures. In terms of sectors, healthcare ETFs led inflows, while tech and financial ETFs experienced the largest outflows, aligning closely with the selling direction at the individual stock level. Share buybacks are slowing down, but still above historical averages In terms of share buybacks, the volume shrank for the second consecutive week last week, but the four-week rolling average reached its highest level since the end of March. Looking at the cumulative progress from the beginning of the year, measured on an annualized basis, this year's corporate buybacks are slightly lower than the same period in 2025, and below the record level of 2024, but still significantly higher than the historical normal range from 2016 to 2023. The S&P 500 Index fell by 2.6% last week, marking the largest weekly drop since May 2025. In this context, the marginal decline in buyback activity implies that the market has lost an important technical support, which investors should continue to monitor. This article is reproduced from "Wall Street View", GMTEight editor: Jiang Yuanhua.