Asia Surge Breaks Global Flow Pattern

Japan and China together pulled in $26.7B last week. That single number defines the current flow story. The US led by volume with $24.7B, but the intensity of buying pressure in Asian markets — Japan at 82.6 and China at 77.6 flow imbalance scores — signals something more deliberate than routine rebalancing.

Geography Flows

Japan's $13.8B weekly inflow is striking against its 3-month base of $160.9B. The pace is holding. China attracted $12.9B this week. Over 3 months it pulled just $18.9B total. That means the weekly rate has sharply accelerated. Both readings point to a clear rotation into Asia that was not present at the same intensity earlier in the quarter.

Taiwan added $5.9B with a near-perfect flow imbalance of 96.4. South Korea brought in $3.0B. The Global Ex-US basket showed a 98.7 imbalance. Almost every dollar flowing in faced no meaningful outflow.

Hong Kong bucked the Asian trend. It shed $1.8B this week. Over 3 months the outflow was $9.7B. India also bled $434M this week with a flow imbalance of just 7.8. These two are clear exceptions within the broader Asia story.

Europe remains flat to negative. Developed Europe posted a $429M inflow this week, but the 3-month number was a $1.9B outflow. The trend has not convincingly reversed.

Sector Rotation

Information Technology dominated with $11.0B in net inflows this week. Over 3 months it absorbed $77.1B. It stays the top destination by a wide margin.

Energy is the clear loser. It shed $464M this week. Over 3 months the outflow was $5.2B. Flow imbalance sits at 37.5 — solidly in selling territory. Communication Services also saw $201M leave this week.

Financials collected $1.2B. Real Estate added $617M. Health Care brought in $343M. Industrials were nearly flat at $118M. Defensive sectors like Utilities and Consumer Staples attracted modest but consistent inflows on both the weekly and quarterly view.

Asset Class and Strategy

Equities took $76.7B in net flows this week. Fixed Income added $11.9B. Commodities were a notable 3-month outflow story at $30.5B out over the quarter. This week, commodities managed a small $509M net inflow — potentially early stabilisation, but not yet a reversal.

Currency ETFs posted a $243M outflow this week and $6.1B over three months. Investors are not chasing currency plays.

On strategy, Vanilla (passive) ETFs led at $55.6B inflows this week. Active strategies added $8.1B. The active share was disproportionately high relative to AUM. Dividends posted a 94.7 flow imbalance — the strongest buying conviction of any strategy category. Value showed mild outflows over 3 months but turned positive this week. ESG was slightly negative this week after $9.1B of inflows over 3 months.

The overall tone is risk-on, with a clear geographic pivot toward Asia and continued preference for equities and passive tech exposure over commodities, energy, and defensive currency strategies.