China Leads as Equities Swamp Bonds This Week

China ETFs pulled in $25.1B in the past week, the biggest single geography inflow in the period. That beat the US ($20.8B) despite the US market being roughly 15 times larger by assets under management. The buying pressure was strong too: China's flow imbalance hit 82.4 out of 100. Over three months, China has drawn $57.9B in net flows. That is a durable trend, not a one-week blip.

Japan flipped sharply. It took in $4.5B this week, but over three months it has shed $21.8B in net outflows, one of the clearest trend reversals in the data. Machine tool orders in Japan surged 46% year-on-year in September 2026 to JPY 63,929 million, according to ORTEX Alt Data, which may be contributing to short-term optimism. But the three-month picture suggests investors have been reducing longer-dated exposure.

Geography Flows

Taiwan attracted $4.3B this week (imbalance: 91.8), making it the most one-sided inflow in the geography table. South Korea added $1.9B. Both markets have now recorded consistent buying over the full three-month window too, with Taiwan up $18.1B and South Korea up $5.5B in net terms.

Outflows were small but telling. Brazil shed $335M this week, reversing a $4.9B three-month inflow. North America ex-US also saw $452M leave. Europe drew a modest $221M this week. Over three months, Developed Europe has collected $6.8B, but the weekly pace has slowed. EU air passenger traffic hit a four-year April low of 128.7 million in April 2026, per ORTEX Alt Data, a backdrop that is not helping Europe's near-term growth narrative.

Sector Rotation

Information Technology topped sector inflows at $2.6B this week. Health Care added $648M and Energy brought in $573M. Those three sectors have all posted positive flows over three months as well, confirming direction rather than divergence.

The sharp flip is in Financials. It drew $884M this week. Over three months, however, Financials has bled $9.5B in net outflows, the worst sector number in the data by a wide margin. The weekly reading is a small bounce inside a larger exit. Materials also reversed: it shed $637M this week but posted a positive $785M over three months. That points to short-term caution on commodities and basic resources, even if the longer trend was supportive.

Industrials lost $373M this week and $1.5B over three months. Consumer Discretionary dropped $364M this week, extending a $1.2B three-month outflow. Utilities and Real Estate both posted red numbers on the week despite positive three-month readings, another sign that defensive and rate-sensitive sectors are losing near-term momentum.

Asset Class and Strategy

Equity ETFs dominated at $64.4B in net inflows this week, dwarfing all other asset classes. Fixed Income brought in $4.2B. Commodities were nearly flat at $113M. Over three months, Fixed Income has collected $285.7B in net flows compared to $536.5B for equities. The bond bid is real but clearly secondary to the equity trade.

Currency ETFs saw $1.1B in outflows this week, though they were positive over three months at $6.9B. That weekly reversal is worth watching.

On strategy, Vanilla passive funds led at $43.9B this week. Active strategies added $6.5B. Growth ETFs attracted $3.6B this week with an imbalance of 83.3, the strongest conviction reading in the strategy table. Value added $1.2B. Over three months, Active funds have pulled in $159.3B, nearly as much as Vanilla on a relative basis. The shift toward actively managed ETFs is one of the cleaner trends in the three-month data.

Momentum strategies bled $3.8B over three months despite a small $101M gain this week. That is a notable reversal for a factor that dominated in earlier periods.

The overall tone is firmly risk-on. Equities are winning, growth is beating defensives, and Asia is absorbing the most aggressive buying. The bond market is picking up flows but not competing with equities for attention.