Stock Mutual Funds See Heavy Outflows

The sharp market downdraft last week was fueled in part by selling among mutual fund investors.

U.S.-based stock funds suffered a net cash outflow estimated at $12.15 billion in the week ended Thursday, according to Santa Rosa-based Trimtabs.com Investment Research.

That was the biggest one-week net outflow since the firm began keeping track in late 1996.

Much of the fund selling apparently occurred Thursday, when the Dow industrials fell nearly 400 points.

The funds’ estimated cash outflow was bigger than those seen during the plunge in tech stocks in March and April, Trimtabs said.