Japan and Hong Kong grabbed the biggest regional headlines this week. Japan pulled in $4.2B over seven days, with a flow imbalance of 74. Hong Kong added $3.5B, running at a striking imbalance score of 83. Both moves extend longer-term trends, with Japan attracting $99B and Hong Kong $1.3B over three months.
The one sharp reversal sits in China. Over three months, China drew $35.2B in net inflows. This week it flipped hard, bleeding $3.1B in outflows. Selling pressure was heavy, with an imbalance score of just 35. South Korea made the opposite turn — a weak week saw $1.4B in outflows, yet the three-month picture shows $41B in net inflows, meaning this week looks like a pause rather than a trend break.
The US remained the anchor by volume at $5.7B weekly net inflows. But the imbalance score of 53 tells a more cautious story — buyers are only marginally outnumbering sellers. Emerging markets broadly showed strong conviction. The Emerging Markets category scored a flow imbalance of 94 this week, pulling in $1.5B on almost no outflows. Developed Europe added $861M, steady against its three-month average.
Tech took the biggest hit of any sector this week. Information Technology saw $2.2B in net outflows over the past seven days. That marks a sharp contrast with its three-month figure of $48.8B in inflows — the biggest three-month haul of any sector. Short-term sellers are taking profits against a strong backdrop.
Energy flipped the script in the other direction. Over three months, Energy lost $4.6B in outflows. This week it attracted $797M in net inflows, a flow imbalance of 68 — solidly in buying territory. Utilities also gained $193M weekly, with an imbalance of 72, continuing its quiet three-month climb. Health Care held steady with $381M weekly, consistent with its $7.4B three-month trend.
Materials stayed under pressure, shedding $952M this week, though that is less extreme than the outflow pace implied by its three-month reading.
Equities dominated. ETFs tracking stocks attracted $18.0B in net inflows last week. Fixed income added $10.4B — a notably strong number, suggesting investors are buying both risk and safety simultaneously. Commodities surged to $4.3B in weekly inflows with an imbalance score of 76, well above their flat three-month average of $3.9B. That is the clearest single-week accelerator in the data.
On strategy, Active ETFs led with $5.2B and an imbalance of 71. Vanilla passive funds added $4.1B but at a much lower imbalance of 52 — meaning passive flows are balanced and mechanical. Dividend strategies attracted $859M with an imbalance of 82, consistent with their strong three-month trend of $13.1B.
The overall tone is risk-on with selective hedging — equities and bonds both gaining, commodities spiking, and investors rotating out of Tech into Energy, Utilities, and income-oriented strategies.
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.
