'GLD' & Bond ETFs See Big Weekly Inflows

A host of tepid economic data points fueled U.S. economic growth concerns all week long, sending the S&P 500 into the red. U.S. investors broadly dumped their equity holdings, and that is reflected in the latest fund flows data that includes the week ending Thursday, Feb. 4.

At the same time that stocks retreated, safe havens continued to rally. Treasury bonds jumped, with the 10-year bond yield hitting its lowest level in almost a year, at 1.79% (yields move inversely to bond prices). Gold was another outperformer as the metal hit the best level since October above $1,160/oz. The yellow metal is now up 9% year-to-date.

Unsurprisingly, the big flows this week went into gold and Treasury ETFs. The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD | A-100) led the pack, with $889 million in inflows.

The iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG | A-98) and the iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF | A-55) were big winners on the bond side, with inflows of $448 million and $426 million, respectively.

Another notable outperformer was the Utilities Select SPDR (XLU | A-88). That fund had inflows of $439 million, as investors viewed relatively safe utility stocks more attractive in the face of lower interest rates and market turmoil.

On the losing side, the biggest and most liquid ETFs took the top spots. The SPDR S&P 500 (SPY | A-98) had outflows of nearly $2 billion, while the iShares Core S&P 500 (IVV | A-98) saw outflows of $1.2 billion.

However, on a percentage basis, the biggest outflows went to the VelocityShares 3X Inverse Crude Oil ETN (DWTI), which lost $535 million, or 58% of its assets. At one point this week, DWTI was up as much as 40%; thus, DWTI traders may have used that as an opportunity to take profits on the inverse exchange-traded note.

In aggregate, U.S.-listed ETFs had outflows of $4.8 billion this week, led by a $5.5 billion outflow from U.S. equity ETFs. U.S. fixed-income ETFs provided some offset, with inflows of $2.1 billion.

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

Disclaimer: All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern time the date the article is published. Data is believed to be accurate; however, transient market data is often subject to subsequent revision and correction by the exchanges.