Stock Fund Inflow Dwindles in May

Investor enthusiasm for stock mutual funds dwindled last month, according to new data released Friday, as confidence in the sagging U.S. stock market has declined.

U.S. stock funds pulled in a net $4.83 billion from investors in May, down from an inflow of $12.93 billion in April, said the Investment Company Institute, a Washington-based mutual fund industry trade group.

A crumbling stock market in June is likely to curtail an eight-month string of positive monthly sales into stock funds.

One data company, Santa Rosa, Calif.-based TrimTabs.com, projects that investors will remove about $19.7 billion from stock funds for the month of June, based on preliminary data through June 25.

Bond funds took in a net $10.6 billion in May, up from $7.76 billion in new cash a month earlier, the ICI said.