Japan is the standout story of the week. ETF investors poured $30.4B into Japanese funds in just seven days. That puts the flow imbalance at 88.3 — deep into strong buying pressure territory. Over three months, Japan has accumulated $318.5B in net inflows. It is the clearest directional bet in global markets right now.
The US remains the largest destination by raw volume. It drew $35.2B net this week across 3,575 funds. But Japan is gaining relative ground fast — its 1-week flow is nearly 86% the size of US flows, despite a fraction of the asset base.
China is the sharpest contrast. Outflows hit $12.8B this week. Flow imbalance sits at just 26.9 — firmly in selling territory. Over three months, China has shed $48.7B net. The selling is consistent and accelerating in pace.
Global Ex-US funds are attracting nearly pure buying pressure. The flow imbalance reads 98.4 this week. India drew modest inflows of $290M this week. That reverses a 3-month trend where India posted a $1.2B net outflow — a meaningful shift worth watching.
Technology leads all sectors with $3.7B in net inflows this week. But it holds that top spot with a flow imbalance of only 56.8 — barely positive. Over three months, Tech has absorbed $91.5B, making it the dominant sector bet.
Materials and Real Estate are the cleaner weekly stories. Materials drew $661M with a 60.9 imbalance. Real Estate pulled in $565M. Both sectors were net losers over three months — Materials shed $6.0B over 3m — making this week's reversal notable.
Financials are losing ground. Outflows of $830M this week follow a $10.8B net outflow over three months. The selling pressure is steady. Health Care also bled $6.6B over three months, continuing into this week with a $170M outflow.
Industrials are nearly flat on the week at -$7M, but that follows $14.6B in three-month inflows. The momentum there is slowing.
Equities dominate. $55B flowed into equity ETFs this week. Fixed income added $12.7B. Both carry similar flow imbalances around 65 — consistent buying pressure across risk assets.
The big reversal is in commodities. Over three months, commodities bled $75.7B net, with a 3m imbalance of just 38.3. This week they flipped positive — $2.6B in net inflows. It is too early to call a trend, but the direction changed.
Active strategies attracted $12.7B this week with an imbalance of 80.7. That is the highest among major strategy groups. Over three months, Growth strategies posted a striking $326.3B net inflow with a 93.1 imbalance — the most lopsided buying signal in the entire dataset. ESG tells the opposite story. It shed $14.2B over three months and sits at a 44.4 imbalance. This week it scraped a small positive, but the structural outflow remains intact.
The overall tone is firmly risk-on. Equities, active funds, and high-growth geographies are attracting capital. Defensive assets and China are being sold.
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.
