Edited by Peter Hillerberg3 min readStories are generated from ORTEX data and reviewed by the ORTEX team. How we publish
Japan was the standout geography story of the week. ETFs focused on Japan pulled in $12.7B in net flows over seven days, with a flow imbalance of 83.4 out of 100. That is a sharp reversal from the three-month picture, where Japan attracted just $7.5B in net flows over the full quarter, suggesting momentum has accelerated markedly. The U.S. remained the largest single destination, adding $14.3B on the week, consistent with the steady $273.6B it gathered over three months. China was also firm, with $4.0B net inflow on the week and a high imbalance score of 84.6, extending a broader $26.2B three-month trend.
The only notable outflows in geography were Mexico and Israel. Mexico shed $265M on the week, with a flow imbalance of just 1.6. That is a weak score by any measure. Israel lost $266M, consistent with persistent outflows over three months.
Developed markets ex-U.S. funds collected $1.6B on the week, almost entirely one-directional, with an imbalance of 97.3. Over three months, that bucket gathered $18.5B. The MSCI November quarterly review adds context here: the rank date falls on 19 October, six days away, and $289B of tracker assets will rebalance. MRNA sits 74% above the MSCI World entry line and carries a 90% probability of addition, pointing to $4.8B of forced buying. At the other end, and saw deletion probabilities jump sharply overnight, with $589M and $761M of potential forced selling respectively.
The technology reversal is the clearest rotation signal in the data. Over three months, Information Technology ETFs suffered the biggest sector outflow of all, at minus $10.3B. This week, that reversed: IT pulled in $1.9B, the top sector inflow. The shift in imbalance from 48.1 over three months to 56.7 this week signals a tentative return of buying pressure, not yet a conviction move.
Financials went the other way. Over three months the sector was the second-worst, with $5.9B in outflows. This week it continued to bleed, losing $828M, with an imbalance of just 39.3. Industrials also turned negative this week at minus $773M, despite being roughly flat over three months.
The defensive tone persists elsewhere. Health Care, Utilities, Materials and Consumer Staples all attracted net inflows on the week. Utilities pulled in $600M with an imbalance of 80.7. Over three months, Utilities, Real Estate and Health Care have been the three strongest sectors. GM reports on 20 October. ORTEX German car registration data, which leads GM revenue by 15 days, is running at plus 133% on the same quarter last year over three months of data. Austrian new-car registrations rose 13% year on year in September 2026, per Atlas data.
Equities dominated both timeframes. This week equities took in $42.8B net, with an imbalance of 65.0. Fixed Income added $20.4B, imbalance 72.0. Over three months, equities gathered $524.9B and fixed income $294.4B. Commodities flipped from a strong $30.7B positive over three months to a small minus $408M this week, the sharpest asset-class reversal in the data. Currency ETFs also swung from a three-month positive of $8.7B to a weekly outflow of $798M.
On strategy, the standout this week is Fundamental, which gathered $15.1B with an imbalance of 97.9. That is almost entirely one-directional buying. Over three months Fundamental attracted $34.3B, but the weekly rate has jumped. Active funds added $3.6B on the week. Over three months, Active pulled in $175.4B, second only to Vanilla in absolute terms. Dividends reversed: positive $12.1B over three months but down $217M this week, imbalance 38.9.
Price-weighted ETFs remain the clearest outflow strategy, losing $1.4B this week and $8.5B over three months. Low-volatility funds also turned negative this week after a mildly positive three months.
The overall tone is risk-on but selective. Japan and U.S. equities are attracting fresh money. Tech is seeing short-term buying after months of net selling. But financials, currencies and commodities are still losing ground, and the MSCI rebalance window adds a mechanical flow layer that will run through to 30 November.
ORTEX Market Intelligence content is generated by AI from a snapshot of ORTEX's proprietary data and reviewed by the ORTEX team. Content is informational only and does not constitute investment advice.
