Oct 15 (Reuters) - Money inflows into U.S. equity funds dropped in the week to Oct. 13 as investors grew anxious over the impact of higher inflation on upcoming third-quarter corporate earnings. Investors bought a net $377 million in U.S. equity funds in the week to Oct. 13, compared with net purchases of $2.38 billion in the previous week, Lipper data showed. A number of companies have issued downbeat outlooks in the run-up to the earnings season. FedEx Corp cited higher wages due to labor shortages, and Nike Inc blamed a supply-chain crunch and soaring freight costs as it lowered its fiscal 2022 sales estimate. U.S. large and small-cap funds faced outflows of $1.29 billion and $851 million respectively, while mid-cap funds received inflows worth a net $539 million. Meanwhile, U.S. value funds attracted inflows for a second straight week, worth a net $2.02 billion, while growth funds lured $207 million. Among sector funds, financials secured a net $1.23 billion in inflows, while communication services, industrials and materials faced outflows of more than $300 million each. U.S. bond funds received $976 million, a 3% gain over the previous week. U.S. taxable bond funds received $910 million, while U.S. municipal bond funds attracted $234 million in inflows, about 76% less than previous week. Inflation protected funds saw net buying of $1.28 billion, that marked their biggest inflow in over two months, while U.S. short/intermediate government and Treasury funds saw purchases of a net $1.77 billion. Meanwhile, U.S. money market funds faced a second straight weekly outflow, amounting to a net $6.29 billion. Reporting by Gaurav Dogra and Patturaja Murugaboopathy in Bengaluru; Editing by Steve Orlofsky Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.