(Reuters] – Big inflows of capital into global equity funds were seen in the seven days prior to Feb. 2, fueled by optimism regarding strong earnings from U.S. companies in technology and hopes for lower inflation later in the year.

Refinitiv Lipper data revealed that investors secured equity funds worldwide totaling $14.34 trillion in the largest weekly purchase they made since Jan. 12.

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Investor interest was increased by the strong earnings of tech firms such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ;), Alphabet. (NASDAQ.:) And chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices. (NASDAQ.:). European equity funds were purchased by investors for $15.44 billion, and Asian funds at $3.16 billion. U.S equity funds were sold for $7.9 billion. Over $1.1 billion was outflow from tech and consumer discretionary equity funds, with financial inflows totalling $0.64 billion.

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The fourth consecutive week of net selling by global bond funds reached $4.85 trillion.

Outflows from global high yield bond funds reached $5.98 trillion, their highest level since March 2020.

Ryan O’Malley from Sage Advisory Services, portfolio manager, stated, “We expect 2022 as a volatile year in all risk assets including high yield bonds.”

Short-term and medium-term bonds were sold by investors for $2 billion. Inflows to government bond funds totaled $1.19 trillion. Inflation protected bond funds saw outflows of $1.95 Billion, the largest since 22 months.

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Following some minor purchases over the past week, there were outflows in global money market funds worth $21.72 Billion.

Precious metals funds received inflows totaling $426 million for a third consecutive week of net purchasing. Energy however, saw a fourth weekly outflow of $308 million.

A study of 24,000 emerging markets funds revealed that bond funds had $360million in net purchases after three consecutive weeks with outflows. Equity funds, however, received $2.31 billion in inflows.

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