Weekly inflows into stocks hit $68 billion globally last week, the most since 2003 as investors position for further growth, Deutsche Bank says

• Investors piled the most money into stocks in a single week since 2003 last week as optimism for further growth continues, according to Deutsche Bank.
• Global equity funds saw $68 billion of inflows, with $53 billion of that flowing into US stocks.
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Investors piled the most money into stocks since 2003 last week as optimism for further growth continues, according to Deutsche Bank.

A team of strategists from the firm found that global equity funds saw $68 billion of inflows last week, the largest input since 2003, driven by a record $53 billion into US funds. According to Deutsche Bank, this brings the cumulative flows from November 2020 to $450 billion.

On a sector level, tech funds saw $3.2 billion in inflows, with financials ($2.2 billion) and energy ($1.3 billion) trailing right behind in a sign that investors are betting for further growth.

"Scaled by assets under management, the pace of equity inflows is at the top of its historical range. It is also well supported by forecasts of strong growth ahead," the strategists wrote.

The firm also found that the percentage of investor portfolios in stocks has continued to grow higher. The level of equity positioning is now near the all-highs last since in early 2018.

Deutsche Bank said positioning in stocks is likely to continue in the near term. However the firm anticipates a peak in growth sometime in the second quarter of 2021 that will cause a pullback in stocks as investors position their attention away from markets and "find something else to do" as the economy re-opens.