Fund Flows Muted at Year End

Europe-focused funds took in over $1 billion for the third consecutive week; the inflow streak started in late June. Flows into Germany equity funds, for instance, hit their highest weekly level in over 17 months.

According to Yardeni Research, Europe's stock markets are up an average 14.1% through early December 2013, while global markets overall had improved 22.6%. Spain is up 16.1%, Germany 17.9% and Greece 29.7%.

Japan's jump of 46.4% is topped only by Pakistan, which has seen its markets increase 47.1%, Yardini's group says. In the emerging markets, though, Brazil has fallen nearly 19%, and Latin America overall is down 8% so far in 2013.

The U.S. market, by contrast, has improved 26.6% through Dec. 6, as measured by the S&P 500 Index and tracked by Yardini.

Though investors remain concerned about tapering, according to Tom Roseen of Lipper, they committed $1.5 billion to stock funds in the week ended Dec. 4, the fourth-straight week of inflows into the funds. More than $2 billion, he notes, went into non-U.S. funds, as investors withdrew $573 million from U.S. equity funds, the first outflows from these funds in a month.

Japanese stock funds attracted about $115 million in new cash, Lipper says, the third-straight week of inflow. The research firm's latest figures show that taxable bond funds had outflows of $258 million. Funds with high-yield junk bonds lost $141 million. However, funds with floating-rate bank loans saw inflows of roughly $383 million.