The billions of dollars that poured out of US stock funds and into bonds last week is the clearest signal yet that investors have capitulated and the stock-market’s pullback has run its course.

That view comes courtesy of Michael Hartnett, chief investment strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, who points to a growing number of indicators suggesting the worst may be over for US stocks. Capitulation is viewed as a sign of a bottom in prices, when all the sellers have been washed out. This allows buyers to step back in and drive the market higher.