Equity mutual funds have seen outflows of almost $20bn (€14.9bn) for the week to the end of Wednesday compared to $6bn of inflows the week before, with investors pulling billions out of both US and international equities in favour of money-market vehicles.

Equity funds that invest primarily in the US saw outflows of $12.9bn, compared with inflows of $2.1bn the previous week, according to US-based TrimTabs Investment Research.