Aug 1 (Reuters) - U.S. equity funds attracted money

inflows for the first time in three weeks in the week through

July 30, fueled by optimism over a U.S.-EU trade deal and an

upbeat corporate earnings season so far.

Investors bought a net $6.34 billion worth of U.S. equity

funds during the week, logging their largest weekly net purchase

since July 7, data from LSEG Lipper showed.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs on

Thursday after strong earnings from Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Meta

Platforms ( META ), but closed off those levels.

LSEG data showed that, of the 317 S&P 500 constituents that

have reported earnings so far, 81% have topped the estimates

from analysts, exceeding the average 76% beat rate seen over the

past four quarters.

The large-cap equity funds segment witnessed a net $7.81

billion inflow during the week after a three-week-long streak of

net selling. Small-cap and mid-cap funds, however, saw net $3.9

billion and $35 million weekly sales respectively.

Sectoral funds gained a net $962 million for a second

successive weekly purchase. The financial and tech sectors drew

$650 million and $583 million weekly inflows, respectively.

Investors, meanwhile, poured $6.08 billion into U.S. bond

funds, extending their buying spree into a 15th week.

They invested a net $1.99 billion in U.S.

short-to-intermediate investment-grade funds in their largest

weekly purchase since July 2. Short-to-intermediate government

and treasury funds, and municipal debt funds also witnessed $1

billion and $937 million worth of net inflows.

Money market funds meanwhile witnessed $1.89 billion worth

of withdrawals after a net $7.33 billion weekly purchase.