Asia Surge Leads Global Risk-On Push

China and Japan ETFs dominated the week's money flows. Combined, they pulled in roughly $18.6B in net inflows over the past seven days. That dwarfs every other regional story in the data.

Geography Flows

China attracted $13.8B in net inflows this week, with a flow imbalance score of 74.8. That means buyers are running well ahead of sellers. Taiwan added $4.5B, with an imbalance of 95.7, the second-highest of any region in the dataset. Japan brought in $4.8B this week. That is a sharp reversal. Over three months, Japan sits in outflow to the tune of $16.2B, the worst geographic performer in the 3m period. The weekly number suggests fresh positioning, potentially linked to a jump in domestic machine tool orders. ORTEX alt data shows Japan domestic machine tool orders rose 46% year-on-year in September 2026 to JPY 63,929M, the kind of real-economy signal that can attract industrial and broad-market ETF buyers.

The U.S. led all regions in absolute terms at $15.4B net inflow for the week, with a flow imbalance of 61.4. Over three months, U.S. ETFs have absorbed $286B, by far the largest single-country total. South Korea was the standout seller this week. It posted a $1.4B net outflow with an imbalance of just 32.2. Brazil shed $954M. Both had been positive over the 3m window, so the weekly reversal is worth watching.

Sector Rotation

Technology was the clearest loser of the week. IT sector ETFs saw a net outflow of $1.7B, the only sector with a negative net_flow_pct reading of -100 in the weekly data. That is a notable shift. Over three months, IT is in net inflow at $5.3B, ranking second among all sectors. Sellers are stepping in after a period of accumulation.

Financials flipped the other way. This week, Financials attracted $1.4B in net inflows. Over three months, Financials is the worst-performing sector, sitting at a $8.8B outflow. The 1w reversal signals that some money is coming back off the sidelines into banks and insurance.

Health Care pulled in $1.2B this week. That is consistent with the 3m trend, where Healthcare sits third overall with $3.8B net. Industrials saw modest inflows of $127M this week, but have bled $1.1B over three months. Consumer Staples attracted $312M this week, reversing a 3m net outflow of $605M.

Asset Class and Strategy

Equities dominate by volume. This week saw $40B in net equity ETF inflows, with a 64.5 flow imbalance. Fixed income added $1.7B. Over three months, fixed income has drawn $285.8B, putting it firmly in demand alongside equities. That is not the typical risk-off signal for bonds. It looks more like broad asset accumulation across the board.

Commodities took in $778M this week and $33.7B over three months. Currencies were the only asset class in outflow for the week at -$483M.

On strategy, vanilla passive ETFs led at $19.9B for the week. Active strategies added $2.8B. Over three months, active funds have gathered $157.9B, nearly matching vanilla's $200.9B on a much smaller asset base. That gap is closing. Growth ETFs took in $2.3B this week. Dividend strategies added $1.7B. Momentum is the only strategy in 3m outflow at -$3.9B.

The overall tone is risk-on. Equities are absorbing fresh money, Asia is back in favour after months of mixed flows, and even beaten-down sectors like Financials are seeing buyers return.