The Weekly ETF Market Monitor (Mar 2-6, 2026)

Sector Equity ETF Flows: Energy and Utilities Lead Inflows While Technology Sees Largest Outflows

Sector allocations showed inflows concentrated in energy and defensive segments. Energy ETFs recorded the largest inflow at $1.84 billion, followed by Utilities with $738.03 million and Real Estate with $579.89 million. Industrials gathered $540.29 million, while Consumer Staples attracted $440.57 million and Materials added $270.92 million. Consumer Discretionary ETFs recorded a smaller inflow of $26.25 million.

Several sectors recorded net outflows during the week. Information Technology experienced the largest withdrawal at $1.43 billion, followed by Health Care with $1.09 billion and Financials with $979.21 million. Communication Services ETFs also declined by $564.88 million.

Sector Equity ETF Performance: Energy Records Only Positive Return

Sector ETF performance showed declines across most sectors during the week. Energy was the only sector posting a gain, rising 1.25%.

All other sectors finished lower. Communication Services declined 0.56%, while Information Technology fell 1.53% and Financials dropped 2.04%. Utilities decreased by 2.07%, Real Estate by 2.34%, and Industrials by 2.55%.

Further declines were recorded in Consumer Discretionary (-2.86%), Health Care (-4.39%), and Consumer Staples (-4.78%). Materials recorded the largest sector decline at -9.75% during the period.

Geographic Equity ETF Flows: Global Exposures Attract Inflows While US Sees Large Outflows

Geographic allocations showed inflows concentrated in global and international exposures. Developed Markets ETFs attracted $3.66 billion, followed by World exposures with $1.82 billion. South Korea ETFs gathered $983.21 million, while Japan-focused funds added $732.76 million.

North America exposures collected $710.38 million, and Emerging Markets ETFs brought in $585.75 million.

Additional inflows were recorded in Europe with $491.94 million, Developed Pacific with $371.02 million, Brazil with $170.92 million, and Taiwan with $77.49 million.

On the outflow side, US-focused ETFs recorded a significant withdrawal of $17.97 billion, while China ETFs declined by $385.73 million and India exposures saw $162.14 million in outflows.

Geographic Equity ETF Performance: Broad Declines Across Most Markets

Equity ETF performance across geographic exposures showed widespread declines during the week, with most markets recording significant losses. South Korea posted one of the largest declines at -15.85%, followed by South Africa at -13.66% and Thailand at -10.86%.

Several Latin American markets also moved sharply lower, including Peru (-10.20%), Chile (-9.59%), and Mexico (-8.82%).

Across Europe and Asia, many markets also declined. France fell 7.91%, Germany dropped 7.58%, Italy declined 7.60%, and Spain moved down 7.05%, while Japan decreased by 8.05%.

Broader regional benchmarks such as Emerging Markets (-6.96%), Europe (-6.67%), and Developed Markets (-6.57%) also recorded declines.

Among major markets, the United States declined 2.28%, while China fell 3.63% and India dropped 3.44%. A limited number of markets recorded gains during the week, including North America at 1.67% and Israel, which rose 6.05%.

Thematic ETF Flows: Defense and Infrastructure Lead Allocations

Thematic ETF flows in the US market were led by defense-related exposures during the week. US Defense ETFs recorded the largest inflow at $833.70 million, followed by Global Defense with $278.04 million. Additional allocations were directed toward Global Infrastructure, which gathered $225.03 million, and Nuclear Energy ETFs, which added $101.28 million.

Several thematic strategies experienced net outflows over the same period. Digital Infrastructure & Connectivity recorded the largest withdrawal at $255.78 million, while BioTech & Genomics saw $107.07 million in outflows.

Other declines were observed in Solar Energy (-$66.13 million), Travel Technology & Services (-$51.66 million), and Alternative Energy (-$42.01 million).

Thematic ETF Performance: Cybersecurity and Crypto Lead Gains

Performance across thematic ETFs showed a small number of strategies finishing higher while most themes declined. Cybersecurity posted the strongest gain at 5.24%, followed by Cryptocurrency with a rise of 4.74% and Cloud Computing at 3.74%.

Defense-related themes also recorded gains, including Asia Defense at 3.66% and Global Defense at 2.95%.

Several thematic strategies recorded notable declines during the week. Travel Technology & Services experienced the largest drop at -10.63%, while Battery Value-Chain declined 7.40% and Nuclear Energy fell 7.01%.

Additional declines were observed across multiple themes, including Smart City (-6.15%), Timber & Forestry (-6.08%), Robotics & Automation (-5.99%), Emerging Markets Awakening (-5.86%), and BioTech & Genomics (-5.82%), along with Europe Defense (-5.75%), Water (-5.35%), Silver Economy (-5.27%), Alternative Energy (-5.25%), Life Sciences (-5.18%), and Healthcare Technology & Innovation (-4.93%).

Fixed Income ETF Flows: Government Bonds Dominate Inflows

Fixed income ETF allocations were led by government exposures. Government Investment Grade ETFs attracted $7.04 billion, representing the largest inflow across fixed income categories.

Aggregate Investment Grade ETFs gathered $3.26 billion, while Government Aggregate strategies added $1.52 billion.

Municipal exposures also recorded inflows, including Municipal Investment Grade with $207.46 million and Municipal Aggregate with $95.77 million.

Corporate bond segments recorded outflows during the same period. Corporate High Yield ETFs experienced the largest withdrawal at $1.73 billion, followed by Corporate Investment Grade with $440.21 million in outflows. Corporate Aggregate exposures also declined by $42.37 million.

Commodity ETF Flows: Energy Commodities See Inflows While Precious Metals Decline

Commodity ETF flows showed inflows concentrated in energy-related exposures. Crude Oil ETFs gathered $413.43 million, while Multi Commodities recorded inflows of $221.12 million and Natural Gas added $43.31 million.

Precious metals exposures experienced large withdrawals during the week. Gold ETFs recorded significant outflows of $5.52 billion, representing the largest movement within the commodity segment. Silver ETFs also declined, with $694.52 million in outflows.

Cryptocurrency ETF Flows: Bitcoin Leads Digital Asset Allocations

Cryptocurrency ETF flows were led by Bitcoin products, which attracted $862.36 million in inflows during the week. Ether ETFs gathered $54.39 million, while Solana ETFs added $44.62 million over the same period. These allocations represented the primary inflows within the crypto ETF segment.

Top ETF Issuers by Net Inflows

1. Vanguard: $7.67 billion
2. iShares: $4.16 billion
3. ProShares: $1.91 billion
4. J.P. Morgan Asset Management: $900.42 million
5. Dimensional: $784.39 million
6. Global X: $716.24 million
7. Capital Group: $711.91 million
8. American Century Investments: $651.03 million
9. Franklin Templeton: $570.37 million
10. Fidelity: $541.97 million

Top Performing ETFs of the Week

1. USCF Oil Plus Bitcoin Strategy Fund (WTIB): 36.91%
2. iPath Bloomberg Energy Subindex Total Return ETN (JJETF): 34.40%
3. United States Oil Fund (USO): 33.40%
4. United States Brent Oil ETF (BNO): 27.26%
5. Invesco DB Oil Fund ETF (DBO): 27.09%
6. Invesco DB Energy Fund ETF (DBE): 25.80%
7. iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX): 23.79%
8. ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY): 23.76%
9. United States Gasoline ETF (UGA): 20.22%
10. ProShares K-1 Free Crude Oil Strategy ETF (OILK): 15.67%

Most Popular ETFs of the Week by Net Inflows

1. ProShares GENIUS Money Market ETF (IQMM): $1.99 billion
2. Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI): $1.89 billion
3. iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV): $1.66 billion
4. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): $1.46 billion
5. iShares J.P. Morgan USD Emerging Markets Bond ETF (EMB): $1.42 billion
6. iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV): $1.23 billion
7. SPDR Portfolio Developed World ex-US ETF (SPDW): $1.07 billion
8. Vanguard Value ETF (VTV): $993.17 million
9. iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY): $961.91 million
10. Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE): $953.21 million

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.