Investors dipped back into the US stock market by adding nearly $3.1 billion to stock and exchange-traded funds that hold domestic equities last week amid increased volatility in benchmark indexes, according to data released Wednesday by the Investment Company Institute. The move back into domestic stocks followed nearly $19.6 billion in outflows the week before and came during a week in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its worst single-day drop of the year as concerns about economic growth and the impact of trade tariffs piled up.

Since hitting a record high in July, the benchmark S&P 500 has fallen more than 3.5%, while volatility has spiked to its highest levels since January. The index is up nearly 17% since the start of January. For the year to date, investors have pulled approximately $85.1 billion out of domestic stock funds. Over the same time, investors have pushed approximately $264.6 billion into bond funds, including slightly more than $10 billion last week. World stock funds, meanwhile, lost a net of $672 million last week, sending the category's year to date loss to approximately $29.4 billion.

Copyright Reuters, 2019