Investors are pulling billions from global stock market funds

Stock markets haven't had a great week.

Investors are increasingly concerned that global shares are hitting a ceiling.

According to analysts at Jefferies, the investment bank, global equity funds "recorded their fifth consecutive weekly outflow, at a net $7.3 billion (£4.9 billion)."

Funds investing in European stocks were the among worst hit, seeing withdrawals of $3.1 billion, extending their outflow streak to 11 weeks, the longest since September 2007, according to Jefferies.

Investors also pulled $4.9 billion of equities from Japanese stock market funds after the Bank of Japan surprised the market by leaving interest rates unchanged in April. Analysts had expected more easing measures.

US stocks weren't immune to the outflows either, experiencing withdrawals of $1.8 billion.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley pointed out that funds investing in emerging markets saw their heaviest outflows since September last year - the month after China's stock market saw heavy losses.