Global equity funds draw inflows for the eighth week on earnings optimism

July 17 : Global equity funds attracted inflows for an eighth consecutive week through July 15, as investor risk appetite was lifted by a strong start to the earnings season and cooler U.S. inflation data that eased expectations of Federal Reserve rate hikes.Investors made net purchases of $12.46 billion in global equity funds during the week, following a hefty $48.35 billion in net buying the previous week, LSEG Lipper data showed.Leading Wall Street banks including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley reported robust earnings earlier this week, alongside ASML, a dominant supplier of AI chipmaking equipment.By region, Europe led equity fund inflows with net purchases of $9.49 billion during the week. Asian funds also drew $5.4 billion in inflows, while investors divested rou