(Reuters) - U.S. equity funds saw strong inflows in the week to July 28, bolstered by optimism over earnings and hopes for a faster economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. equity funds attracted a net $8.03 billion, the biggest inflow in five weeks, data from Refinitiv Lipper showed. (Graphic: Fund flows into U.S. equities bonds and money market: ) Equity funds’ inflows were heavily focused on exchange-traded funds, whose holdings rose by $10.9 billion. On the other hand, U.S. equity mutual funds faced outflows of $943 million, underscoring investors’ preference for passive funds in recent months. U.S. growth funds received $2.7 billion, the biggest weekly inflow in four months, while U.S. value funds faced meagre outflows. (Graphic: Flows into U.S. equity sector funds: ) Among sector funds, technology, consumer staples and industrial products were in high demand, seeing inflows of $931 million, $693 million and $409 million respectively. At the same time, U.S. bond funds also attracted $3.3 billion, the most in three weeks, due to lingering worries over higher inflation and the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus. (Graphic: Flows into U.S. bond funds: ) Inflation-protected funds attracted a record $2.2 billion in the week, the data showed. U.S. money market funds received a net $17.9 billion, the biggest in nine weeks. Reporting by Gaurav Dogra and Patturaja Murugaboopathy in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.