Institutional money kept flowing into risk assets this week. Equities pulled in $43B net over seven days. The picture beneath that headline number, however, tells a sharper story — one sector is bleeding cash while others quietly absorb it.
The US remains the dominant destination. American ETFs attracted $19.2B in net inflows over the past week. That matches the 3-month pattern, where US-focused funds have gathered $383B. Japan is the standout international story. It drew $8.2B in the past week alone, with a strong flow imbalance of 71.2. Over three months, Japan has pulled in $163B — second only to the US.
Emerging Markets added $2.8B this week. The flow imbalance hit 88.3, suggesting near-unanimous buying pressure. Taiwan and South Korea also attracted meaningful flows. Both have been consistent recipients over the 3-month period.
China is the notable exception. It posted a $2.4B outflow this week. That is a sharp reversal from its 3-month position, where it sits on $17.9B of net inflows. Money is rotating out of China in the short term while the longer trend remains modestly positive. Hong Kong reinforced that caution, bleeding $992M this week and $9.5B over three months.
The biggest story across sectors is Information Technology. IT funds shed $3.1B this week. That is the largest sector outflow by a wide margin. Yet over three months, IT remains the top sector destination at $78B of net inflows. The 1-week reversal is sharp and worth watching.
Industrials took the top spot for weekly sector inflows at $1.2B. Health Care added $746M. Consumer Discretionary attracted $702M. All three show strong buying pressure with flow imbalances above 65.
Energy reversed its 3-month trend. Over 90 days it lost $7.3B. This week it attracted $139M — tentative stabilisation, not a full rotation.
Consumer Staples saw outflows of $146M this week, consistent with a risk-on posture. Investors are not hiding in defensives.
Fixed Income pulled in $22B this week alongside equities' $43B. Both gaining simultaneously points to broad liquidity deployment rather than a flight to safety. Over three months, equities absorbed $835B versus bonds' $243B — the ratio favours risk.
Commodities are a notable divergence. They attracted $708M this week. Over three months they lost $31.1B. That 3-month outflow has not reversed — but the weekly number suggests short-term interest returning.
On strategy, active funds gathered $6.1B this week. Over three months, active ETFs have captured $224.7B. The shift toward active management is one of the clearest sustained trends in the data. Dividend strategies bucked that trend. They posted a $1.3B outflow this week, despite positive 3-month flows of $15.7B — investors are chasing growth, not income, right now.
Momentum strategies also reversed sharply. They lost $485M this week after posting $5.8B of 3-month inflows.
Overall tone is risk-on: equities dominate, defensives lag, and the IT sell-off this week looks like a short-term rotation rather than a structural retreat.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
