May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. equity fund inflows surged to a

three-week high in the week to May 13 on optimism over a strong

earnings season and robust revenue guidelines by chipmakers,

despite a buildup in inflationary pressure.

According to LSEG Lipper data, investors pumped up a net

$22.37 billion into U.S. equity funds in their largest weekly

net purchase since $27.97 billion of inflows in the week to

April 22.

Strong sales forecasts by chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD )

and Microchip Technology ( MCHP ) last week bolstered

investor sentiments and pushed the S&P 500 to a record

high of 7,517.12 on Thursday.

LSEG data covering 455 S&P 500 constituents showed about 83%

of companies beat analysts' average profit estimates for the

first quarter.

Inflows to U.S. large-cap funds of $17.06 billion were the

largest in six weeks. Mid-cap and small-cap funds, however, had

net outflows of $1.25 billion and $2.53 billion, respectively.

The technology sector gained record weekly net investments

of $8.51 billion, while financials faced an outflow of $1.37

billion.

Bond fund inflows surged to a three-month high of $12.9

billion in the week.

U.S. short-to-intermediate investment-grade funds, general

domestic taxable fixed income funds and, short-to-intermediate

government and treasury funds segments drew significant net

investments of $4.02 billion, $3.08 billion and $2.14 billion,

respectively.

At the same time, investors divested a net $4.4 billion of

money market funds after their $113.53 billion net purchase a

week ago.