CORRECTED-First quarter ‘dash for cash’ largest since early 2020 -BofA

(Corrects previous week’s flows into cash to read $142.9 billion (not $112.7 billion), paragraph 2)

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) – Investors moved $508 billion into cash in the first quarter of this year, the largest quarterly inflow since the market turmoil early in the COVID-19 pandemic, according to BofA Global Research, as the failure of several banks sent markets spinning. Flows into cash of $60.1 billion in the week to Wednesday were down from $142.9 billion the previous week, but the quarterly dash for cash was the biggest since the first quarter of 2020, BofA said on Friday, citing data from EPFR.

Markets have gyrated wildly this month, following the collapse of U.S. regional lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and Europe’s Credit Suisse.

Investors have dumped bank stocks. There were $600 million outflows from financial equity funds, although expectations the turmoil could lead to a slower pace of central bank rate hikes meant funds investing in tech stocks saw $400 million in inflows. (Reporting by Alun John; Editing by Amanda Cooper)