GRAPHIC-US equity funds gain inflows for third week in a row

Nov 22 (Reuters) - U.S. investors snapped up equity funds for a third successive week through Nov. 20, buoyed by optimism over rising corporate earnings expectations, although the inflows were restrained due to a cautious Federal Reserve rate outlook and geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West.

According to data compiled by LSEG, investors acquired U.S. equity funds of a net $2.98 billion during the week, booking a significantly smaller weekly net purchase compared with about $37.42 billion worth of net additions in the previous week.

Following Donald Trump's decisive early-November victory and strong U.S. corporate performances, data compiled by LSEG showed analysts have increased their 2025 earnings forecasts for U.S. companies by 1.3% on average in the past two weeks, boosting demand for equity funds.

U.S. sectoral funds secured a net $1.2 billion worth of inflows during the week, the second in a row. The financials, industrials and consumer staples segments received a notable $841 million, $437 million and $364 million, respectively.

Investors added $1.51 billion to U.S. equity value funds after a $1.97 billion net purchase the previous week, while growth funds experienced outflows of $3.65 billion during the same period.

Meanwhile, they channelised a hefty $8.29 billion worth of capital into U.S. bond funds, registering the highest weekly net purchase in five weeks.

The U.S. short-to-intermediate investment-grade funds received an outstanding $4.8 billion, the largest weekly net inflow since February 7th.

General domestic taxable fixed income, loan participation, and municipal debt funds, meanwhile, received weekly inflows at $3.35 billion, $2 billion and $1.29 billion, respectively.

U.S. money market funds, meanwhile, faced $24.6 billion worth of net selling after a net $76.56 billion worth of purchases in the previous week.

(Reporting by Gaurav Dogra and Patturaja Murugaboopathy in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)