By Sam Forgione NEW YORK, April 1 (Reuters) - Investors in U.S.-based mutual funds pulled $1.1 billion out of stock funds in the week ended March 25 as a stronger dollar and weak durable goods data hurt U.S. shares, data from the Investment Company Institute showed on Wednesday.
The outflows were the first total withdrawals from stock funds in 11 weeks. Funds that specialize in U.S. stocks posted $4.5 billion in outflows, marking their second straight week of withdrawals and their biggest in 11 weeks.
Foreign-focused stock funds, meanwhile, attracted $3.3 billion to mark their 12th straight week of inflows.
Bond funds attracted $2.5 billion, marking their biggest inflows in three weeks and their 11th straight week of inflows.
"It's a risk-off trade by a lot of individual investors given the choppiness in the market, plus the more or less spotty data," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.
He said investors sought international stocks on the view that the European Central Bank's recently launched bond-buying stimulus program could boost European shares.
While data on home sales, inflation and manufacturing indicated the U.S. economy remained strong, figures showing weak U.S. durable goods orders for February hurt investor sentiment. The benchmark S&P 500 stock index slumped 1.8 percent over the period.
Hellwig added that the U.S. dollar has negatively impacted U.S. corporate earnings. The greenback has risen about 24 percent since early May against a basket of major currencies.
Municipal bond funds attracted $727 million of the total inflows into bond funds, marking their biggest inflows in four weeks. Hybrid funds, which can invest in stocks and fixed income securities, attracted $545 million. That marked their 11th straight week of inflows.
The following table shows estimated ICI flows for the past five weeks (all figures in millions of dollars): 3/25/15 3/18 3/11 3/4 2/25 Total equity -1,146 1,948 3,932 999 2,434 Domestic -4,464 -1,759 12 -1,933 72 World 3,318 3,706 3,920 2,932 2,362 Hybrid* 545 913 854 528 1,051 Total bond 2,492 455 1,298 4,984 2,955 Taxable 1,765 261 999 4,310 1,951 Municipal 727 194 299 675 1,003 Total 1,891 3,316 6,084 6,512 6,439 * Hybrid funds can invest in stocks and/or fixed-income securities.
(Reporting by Sam Forgione, editing by G Crosse)