U.S. bond funds came under heavy selling pressure in the week to April 16, highlighting concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff measures could fuel inflation and push the economy into a recession.

Investors divested U.S. bond funds for a fifth successive week to the tune of $10.07 billion on a net basis, while in the previous week there were about $15.64 billion worth of net sales, data from LSEG Lipper showed.

U.S. short-to-intermediate investment-grade funds had a net $6.3 billion worth of disposals after a net $6.66 billion worth of sales in the previous week.

Investors also shed U.S. general domestic taxable fixed income funds of about $2.22 billion, in contrast, U.S. short-to-intermediate government and treasury funds saw a net $6.82 billion worth of inflows.

Meanwhile, U.S. investors ditched equity funds worth a net $10.62 billion, contrasting with $6.5 billion worth of net purchases in the prior week.

The tech, healthcare and consumer staples sectors were hit by a net $819 million, $514 million and $348 million worth of sales respectively during the week.

Investors also offloaded $131.74 billion worth of money market funds, extending outflows into a second consecutive week.