ETF Market Weekly Trends: Risk-On Returns with Tech, AI, and Uranium in the Lead

Sector Flows: Tech and Industrials on Top, Health Care Left Behind

Flows poured into growth and cyclical sectors. Industrials led with $2.6 billion, followed closely by information technology ($2.2B) and communication services ($1.7B).

Financials also saw healthy inflows of $1.6B, suggesting confidence in rate-sensitive plays.

But not every corner of the market benefited.

Health care (-$490M) and consumer staples (-$374M) suffered sharp outflows, alongside energy (-$153M), signaling a clear tilt away from defensives.

Performance-wise, the winners aligned with flows: tech (+3.2%), materials (+1.9%), and communication services (+1.8%) posted strong weekly gains, while real estate (-1.2%) and consumer staples (-1.2%) lagged.

Regional Flows: Home Bias in Full Force

The US was the epicenter of ETF demand, with domestic funds capturing $53.2 billion in inflows — dwarfing every other region combined.

Emerging markets ETFs added $2.7B, and global “world” products brought in $2.6B, but Europe and developed markets bled assets, with Germany (-$184M) and the broader developed bucket (-$951M) seeing redemptions.

China ETFs managed $343M in inflows, while Singapore also drew modest interest.

Themes: AI, Crypto, and Defense Dominate

The thematic ETF boom continues to run hot. Artificial intelligence and disruptive tech funds were runaway winners, pulling in $2.5B.

Crypto-related ETFs followed closely with $2.3B, while US defense strategies gathered $2.2B.

On the flip side, the Next Generation Internet (-$917M) and FinTech (-$463M) themes fell out of favor, posting steep outflows.

Fixed Income: Safety in Treasuries, Pain in Corporates

Bond ETF flows highlighted a preference for government paper and core benchmarks.

US Treasury ETFs gained $3.5B, aggregate investment-grade funds added $1.7B, and municipals attracted $247M.

But investment-grade corporates lost $877M, suggesting investors are trimming credit exposure while extending into sovereign duration.

Commodities: Gold Roars Back

Gold ETFs shone brightest, with $3.5 billion in new assets, marking their best week of the year.

Silver added $242M, riding both safe-haven demand and industrial momentum.

Top Performers: Uranium and Clean Energy Explode

It was a breakout week for nuclear, clean energy, and digital economy ETFs.

• Global X Hydrogen ETF (HYDR): +18.2%
• Global X Uranium ETF (URA): +16.7%
• Themes Uranium & Nuclear ETF (URAN): +11.8%
• Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (PBW): +11.6%
• Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI): +11.4%

Uranium names dominated, with four funds in the top 10, while blockchain and lithium mining ETFs also delivered double-digit returns.

The Big Boney: S&P 500 and Growth ETFs

Mega-cap equity ETFs soaked up the lion’s share of inflows.

• iShares Core S&P 500 (IVV): $12.3B
• Vanguard Growth (VUG): $5.8B
• Invesco QQQ (QQQ): $4.9B
• iShares S&P 100 (OEF): $3.9B
• Vanguard Extended Market (VXF): $2.7B

Meanwhile, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) pulled in a massive $2.3B.

Issuer Scoreboard: BlackRock and Vanguard Dominate

iShares ($26.4B) and Vanguard ($21.1B) towered over the competition, together accounting for nearly 80% of all inflows. Schwab ($6.5B), Invesco ($6.2B), and VanEck ($4.7B) rounded out the leaders.

On the losing side, Ark Invest (-$4.2B) and SPDR (-$2.8B) faced sharp redemptions.

What Happened in European and Canadian ETF Markets?

Our partners at Trackinsight have the full recap here.

Please note this article is for information purposes only and does not in any way constitute investment advice. It is essential that you seek advice from a registered financial professional prior to making any investment decision.