Institutional money made a sharp turn this week. The US — the world's largest ETF market — saw a net outflow of $24.2B over the past seven days. That reverses a 3-month trend where US-focused funds pulled in $357.5B. It is the standout divergence of the week.
Japan absorbed the biggest international inflow this week: $10B net, with a flow imbalance of 71. Over three months, Japan has also been a consistent winner, drawing $78.2B — cementing its status as the top destination outside the US.
Global and Developed Markets Ex-US funds each added modest weekly inflows of $5.8B and $1.8B respectively. Emerging Markets followed at $1.7B net, with a strong flow imbalance of 85 — signalling clear buying pressure.
The UK stands out as a weekly laggard. It posted a net outflow of $261M with a flow imbalance of just 12 — one of the weakest readings globally. The 3-month picture for UK funds is also negative at -$298M. China is essentially flat over one week at -$185M, though the 3-month picture is strongly positive at $36.5B in net inflows.
Technology took the hardest hit this week. Information Technology ETFs bled $3.8B, with a flow imbalance of just 40. Over three months, however, Tech drew $56.1B — the largest sector inflow by a wide margin. This week's reversal is a sharp break from that trend.
Financials and Energy also saw weekly outflows of $732M and $613M respectively. Energy has been consistently weak: -$6.1B over three months.
On the other side, Materials gained $486M this week. Utilities attracted $264M with a flow imbalance of 84 — the highest buying pressure of any sector. Industrials added $173M. Over three months, Industrials pulled in $5.2B. Health Care, which gained $6.6B over 3 months, was essentially flat this week at -$87M.
The clearest signal this week: bonds beat stocks. Fixed Income led all asset classes with $9.3B in net inflows and a flow imbalance of 61. Commodities were second at $6.8B, with a strong 83 imbalance. Currency ETFs attracted $2.8B. Equities, by contrast, scraped in just $923M — a near-flat reading despite $96B in gross inflows.
Over three months, equities dominate with $742B in net flows. Fixed Income pulled $233B. But the weekly reversal — bonds and commodities topping equities — points to a clear short-term defensive tilt.
On strategy, active management continues to gain ground. Active ETFs took in $6.3B this week with a flow imbalance of 70. Over three months, active funds absorbed $220B. Passive Vanilla strategies, by contrast, lost $10.7B this week. Dividend and fundamental strategies both saw healthy inflows.
Taken together, this week's data tells a risk-off story: money left US equities and technology, moved into bonds, commodities, and selective international markets — with Japan and Emerging Markets as the clearest beneficiaries.
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.
