NEW YORK, USA - Inflows to emerging market stock funds reached a 2009 record in the past week, while money market and U.S. equity funds saw redemptions, EPFR Global said on Thursday.

Emerging debt funds also benefited from investors' appetite for yield, recording their largest weekly inflows since EPFR started tracking them in 2001.

Investors withdrew US$28.1 billion ($39.1 billion) from money market funds in the week ending Oct. 14, according to EPFR data. U.S. equity funds lost US$3.49 billion during the same period even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved back to its 10,000 level.

Global emerging market equity funds, on the other hand, absorbed $2.1 billion while EMEA equity funds received US$358 million ' both posting record weekly inflows, said the firm, which tracks globally-domiciled funds with $10 trillion in total assets.

Investors poured money into emerging market equity funds as 'hopes of increased U.S. and European demand for commodity and other emerging markets export (were) bolstered by a good start to the third-quarter earnings season and the latest Chinese trade numbers,' EPFR said in a statement.

Heavy inflows were seen in funds specialized in BRIC countries ' Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Equity funds dedicated to BRIC countries or Russia alone saw their largest weekly inflows for the year, while funds dedicated only to Brazil or to China had their second-best week of the year, the firm said.

Record inflows in emerging debt

Flows into emerging market bond funds 'continued to gather momentum,' EPFR said, averaging nearly $900 million a week since the second week of September.

That compares to an average of US$283 million during the third quarter of 2009 and of US$83 million during the second quarter, EPFR said, adding that in recent weeks the focus has shifted back to hard-currency debt rather than local currencies.

Other major bond fund groups also attracted inflows, EPFR said. U.S. bond funds posted inflows of more than US$2 billion for the 10th consecutive week and global bond funds had their fifth straight week of more than US$1 billion in inflows.