U.S. equity fund inflows ease to a six-week low

May 4 (Reuters) – U.S. equity fund inflows ebbed to a six-week low in the week through April 29 as investors concerned over a surge in crude oil prices exercised caution ahead of a monetary policy decision by the Federal Reserve.

According to LSEG Lipper data, investors bought just $911 million worth of U.S. equity funds in their smallest weekly net purchase since March 18.

The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady last week, but three board members voted to drop the central bank’s easing bias, adding a layer of uncertainty around the Fed’s policy direction.

The S&P 500, meanwhile, hit a record high of 7,272.52 last Friday, bolstered by upbeat earnings from several major U.S. tech companies.

Investors pumped $1.43 billion into technology stocks, extending a run of net purchases into a fourth successive week. They also offloaded $1.06 billion from healthcare funds.

U.S. bond funds saw an uptick in demand as inflows surged to $4.87 billion, from approximately $3.41 billion in the prior week.

U.S. government bond funds, high yield bond funds and short-to-intermediate investment-grade funds attracted $2.73 billion, $1.97 billion and $1.48 billion, respectively.

Money market funds, meanwhile, faced a third successive weekly outflow to the tune of $13.02 billion.

(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)