Feb 6 (Reuters) – U.S. equity funds witnessed an easing of demand in the week through February 4 on caution over a selloff in software stocks, although strong earnings from Eli Lilly and Super Micro Computer offered some support. Investors bought U.S. equity funds of $5.58 billion during the week, approximately a 48% drop compared with the prior week's $10.82 billion net inflows, LSEG Lipper data showed. Software shares came under pressure after AI developer Anthropic launched a legal plug-in for its generative AI chatbot last Friday, raising concerns over potential disruption to the sector. U.S. large-cap funds saw $1.1 billion worth of inflows, while mid-cap and small-cap funds faced outflows of $1.59 billion and $1.67 billion, respectively. Among sectoral funds, investors poured $2.11 billion into industrials and $1.44 billion into metals and mining but withdrew a sharp $2.34 billion from the technology sector. U.S. bond funds attracted a fifth successive weekly inflow, to the tune of $11.11 billion in the most recent week. Short-to-intermediate investment-grade funds saw $6.34 billion worth of net investments, the largest for a week since at least 2022. Municipal debt funds and inflation-protected funds also drew a significant $2.38 billion and $1.34 billion, respectively. U.S. money market funds, meanwhile, experienced $83.09 billion worth of net purchases, the largest since a $105.08 billion net inflow in the week to December 3. (Reporting by Gaurav Dogra; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
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