May 8 (Reuters) - Investors trimmed their U.S. equity fund holdings for the first time in seven weeks in the week through May 6 as they locked in profits from a recent rally ahead of a key employment report.

They sold a net $2.26 billion of U.S. equity funds in the first weekly outflow since $24.52 billion of net sales in the week to March 18, LSEG Lipper data showed.

The S&P 500 .SPX rallied for the sixth straight week to a record 7,385.02 on Thursday, bolstered by robust earnings and strong demand for artificial intelligence stocks.

A strong U.S. Labor Department report on Friday reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged for some time.

In the latest week, investors divested a net $1.75 billion from U.S. large-cap funds and a net $1.4 billion from mid-cap funds, but added a net $998 million to small-cap funds.

Among sectors, technology funds attracted a net $1.87 billion, a fifth successive weekly inflow, while healthcare saw a net $1.53 billion outflow.

U.S. bond fund net inflows at $7.65 billion were the highest in four weeks.

Short-to-intermediate investment-grade funds were particularly popular, attracting a net $6.76 billion, the biggest weekly inflow since at least July 2022.

Investors also pumped a net $111.85 billion into liquid money market funds, the largest weekly figure since November 2025.