UPDATE 1-US-based stock mutual funds post 3rd straight week of inflows-ICI

By Sam Forgione
NEW YORK, Jan 30 (Reuters) - U.S.-based stock mutual funds
attracted $6.35 billion in new money in the latest week, their
third consecutive week of inflows, data from the Investment
Company Institute showed on Wednesday.
Among the inflows into stock mutual funds in the week ended
Jan. 23, an estimated $3.49 billion went into funds that hold
U.S. stocks, according to ICI, a U.S. mutual fund trade
organization.
The remaining $2.86 billion flowed into mutual funds that
hold foreign stocks, it said.
The cash gains confirm the positive turnout for stock mutual
funds since the start of the year, although they marked the
weakest gains of the three-week run.
The funds attracted $14.33 billion in the first full week of
the year, the most on a record that extends back to the start of
2007, ICI said. In the following week, the funds gained $9.2
billion.
Bond funds, meanwhile, attracted $8.03 billion in new cash
in the latest week, which was compared with cash gains of $10.6
billion the prior week.
The benchmark S&P 500 index rose 1.5 percent over the
reporting period. Signals that Republican leaders would pass a
nearly four-month extension of the U.S. debt ceiling, upbeat
data on U.S. unemployment claims and strong earnings from
technology companies all boosted sentiment.
Hybrid funds, which can invest in stocks and fixed-income
securities, attracted $1.94 billion in inflows. That sum is
modestly less than inflows of $2.12 billion the previous week.
The following table is a breakdown of ICI flows for the past
five weeks (all figures in millions of dollars):

12/26/12 1/2/13 1/9/2013 1/16/2013 1/23/2013
Total Equity -4,307 -10,744 14,333 9,201 6,349
Domestic -3,942 -9,261 7,731 4,894 3,485
World -366 -1,483 6,601 4,307 2,864
Hybrid* 533 -154 2,808 2,122 1,936
Total Bond 2,532 1,450 9,423 10,600 8,033
Taxable 3,233 1,178 7,042 8,358 6,621
Municipal -701 272 2,381 2,242 1,413
Total -1,242 -9,448 26,564 21,923 16,319
*Hybrid funds can invest in stocks and/or fixed-income
securities.