FINANCIAL MARKETS : Stock Mutual Fund Sales See Revival After Slow October

Although a mutual fund group reported October sales were the worst since June, some of the nation’s biggest mutual fund companies are unofficially reporting a strong rebound this month.

The Investment Company Institute, a Washington-based industry trade group, reported that initial cash flows into domestic stock funds in October fell to $9.2 billion from $12.6 billion in September. New investments in bond and income funds rose to $1.8 billion in October from $327.5 million in September.

But at Fidelity Investments, the nation’s largest mutual-fund company, sales of domestic stock funds totaled $2.4 billion through Nov. 24, already higher than October’s $2.1 billion of sales. Several other companies also report higher flows this month. T. Rowe Price & Associates said November’s initial cash flows into domestic stock funds through Nov. 27 increased 50% from October. However, Vanguard Group said monthly stock fund sales fell to $900 million from $1.1 billion in October.

Investors are buying stock funds despite warnings from fund companies about higher-than-average year-end distributions this year--and potentially higher tax bills, analysts said.