Nov 21 (Reuters) - U.S. equity funds attracted

investment inflows for a fifth week in a row as investors

focused on robust third-quarter earnings growth and brushed off

concerns of lofty tech sector valuations.

They invested a net $4.36 billion into U.S. equity funds in

the week through November 19, a nearly fourfold increase from

approximately $965 million the prior week, LSEG Lipper data

showed.

"The resilient economic and corporate earnings growth

outlook, and the accelerating impact of AI and longevity

reinforce our positive view on U.S. equities," said Mark

Haefele, chief investment officer, UBS Global Wealth Management.

LSEG data for 473 S&P 500 companies showed that their

third-quarter profits rose 16.3% from a year ago, more than

three times analyst forecasts for a 4.9% increase.

"The third-quarter earnings season was robust," UBS's

Haefele said.

The S&P 500 Index, however, hit a two-month low of

6534.05 on Thursday amid a selloff in the technology sector and

as delayed data muddied the labor market outlook.

In the most recent week, investors added $6.93 billion into

large-cap funds, up sharply from the $2.38 billion in net

purchases the prior week.

Small-cap funds drew a net $404 million, while mid-cap funds

saw a net $2.04 billion outflow.

Net U.S. bond fund inflows cooled to a seven-week low of

$4.11 billion in the week.

Short-to-intermediate government and treasury funds

attracted a net $1.45 billion, roughly halving from $3.01

billion the prior week.

General domestic taxable fixed-income funds added a net

$1.93 billion, in line with the previous week's $1.96 billion.

Money market funds saw a net $22.89 billion worth of sales

as outflows extended into a second successive week.