In Brief: Money Markets Dominated Nov. Market

SUMMIT, N.J. — Lipper Inc. said that investors poured into money market funds last month amid a continued selloff in stocks.

Eighty five percent of new money, or $50.2 billion, invested in mutual funds during November went into taxable money market funds, the company said.

Money market funds accounted for $26 billion of October’s $38.3 billion in net inflows.

But investors didn’t shun equity funds entirely in November. They socked away about $8.6 billion in stock funds, though stock investing was down 44.2% from October.

Donald Cassidy, a senior research analyst at Lipper, said the switch to money market funds indicates that mutual fund investors have become increasingly cautious.

“Buying is clearly down, but selling has dried up as well because investors are unwilling to sell when they have losses,” Mr. Cassidy said.

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