Asia Surge Leads Global Risk-On Push

Equity ETFs absorbed $76.7B in net inflows last week. That is the dominant story. Money is moving decisively into risk assets, and Asia is driving the charge.

Geography: Asia Takes the Lead

Japan pulled in $13.8B in net flows over the past week. Its flow imbalance of 82.6 signals strong buying pressure with little countervailing selling. China added $12.9B. Taiwan attracted $5.9B — nearly all inflow, with a flow imbalance of 96.4.

That Asian sweep is a notable shift from the three-month picture. Over 3 months, China attracted only $18.9B net. That is less than Japan's single-week total. The pace of China inflows has accelerated sharply in recent days.

Hong Kong stands out as the lone Asian loser. It bled $1.8B last week and has shed $9.7B over three months. A flow imbalance of just 20.1 this week confirms sustained selling pressure.

The US remained the largest single geography by net flow at $24.7B for the week. Over three months, US ETFs have taken in $358.6B. That long-term lead remains intact, but Asia is narrowing the gap on a weekly basis.

India reversed course sharply. It posted a $434M outflow last week, with a flow imbalance of just 7.8 — near-total selling dominance.

Sector: Tech Stands Alone

Information Technology pulled in $11.0B in net flows last week. Every other sector was far behind. Financials came second at $1.2B. Real Estate added $617M.

Energy continued to struggle. It lost $464M last week and has shed $5.2B over three months. That persistent outflow makes Energy the clear sector loser of the quarter.

Communication Services posted a $201M outflow this week. Over three months it is almost flat at -$161M, suggesting directionless sentiment rather than a clean trend.

Industrials is worth watching. It drew only $118M last week but $2.7B over three months. The weekly pace has slowed considerably.

Asset Class and Strategy: Bonds Hold Firm

Equities dominated at $76.7B net inflow for the week. Fixed Income added $11.9B. Over three months, Fixed Income has taken in $235.2B — a substantial long-run bid for bonds alongside equities.

Commodities tell a different story. They lost $30.5B over three months. Last week they recovered just $509M. The selling trend in commodities remains intact over the longer window despite a brief weekly reprieve.

Vanilla passive ETFs led strategy flows at $55.6B last week. Active strategies added $8.1B. The most striking strategy trend is dividends: a flow imbalance of 94.7 last week signals near-unanimous buying. Over three months, dividend ETFs have taken in $17.1B — consistent and accelerating.

ESG reversed over the week. It posted a $135M outflow last week despite $9.1B in net inflows over three months. That one-week blip may be noise, but it warrants monitoring.

The overall tone is clearly risk-on. Equities and tech lead. Asia accelerates. Bonds hold a secondary bid. Energy and commodities remain under pressure.