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ETFs: Caution Following the Rally

AI and space exploration—these are the big themes in ETF trading. But the enthusiasm has taken a hit, with traders reporting profit-taking. Defense ETFs are also no longer in such high demand.


June 9, 2026. FRANKFURT (Deutsche Börse). Not everything related to AI, semiconductors, and space exploration is attracting investors anymore. Nasdaq and technology trackers are now clearly among the top sellers—despite strong trading volumes. However, broadly diversified equity ETFs remain popular, as Frank Mohr of Société Générale reports. World ETFs are particularly popular, partly due to the many savings plans starting at the beginning of the month. In demand are the large MSCI World ETFs from iShares (IE00B4L5Y983), Amundi (IE000BI8OT95), and SPDR (IE00BFY0GT14), as well as the actively managed JPM Global Research Enhanced Index Equity Active ETF (IE00BF4G6Y48). Also popular: U.S. stocks, such as the iShares Core S&P 500 (IE00B5BMR087).

“Tech Outflows Predominate”

In sector ETF trading, technology index funds are clearly the focus. “These account for 60 percent of trading volume, but outflows predominate,” Mohr notes. Sven Seipp of ICF Bank also reports “predominantly outflows,” for example from the VanEck Semiconductor (IE00BMC38736). The Nasdaq 100 rose to a new all-time high of 30,747 points last week, but then fell below 29,000. As of Tuesday afternoon, the index stands at 29,650 points. 
According to Mohr, assets being sold off include the Xtrackers Artificial Intelligence & Big Data (IE00BGV5VN51) and the iShares S&P 500 Information Technology Sector (IE00B3WJKG14). Among Lang & Schwarz’s trading-savvy clientele, there is significant interest in WisdomTree’s semiconductor ETNs with 3x leverage, both long and short (XS3091657729, XS3091646797), as Janis Völker notes.

Price Declines in Space ETF

Another major topic ahead of this week’s upcoming IPO of Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX: space exploration. As a result, there’s a lot of activity in the VanEck Space Innovators (IE000YU9K6K2). “Demand is extremely high,” explains Völker. Mohr reports many purchases, but even more sales. ICF trader Seipp has also seen quite a few sales around the 100-euro mark, but then purchases again as well. The ETF has recently recorded losses: The price had risen from 59 euros in early January to 121 euros at the end of May, but is now back down to 95 euros. Amid the space industry euphoria, more and more space-themed ETFs are currently coming onto the market, including the iShares Space Technologies (IE000A9G9R73>) just today. 

Mohr

Frank Mohr

Defense stocks have recently seen even steeper declines. The popular VanEck Defense (IE000YYE6WK5), which traded as high as 64 euros earlier this year, now costs just 53 euros. Seipp is seeing a fair amount of selling, including in the WisdomTree Europe Defense (IE0002Y8CX98). 

Solid demand, but no records.

In May, the European ETF market attracted a total of 37 billion euros in new net inflows, according to the ETF platform Crossflow. Of this amount, 24 billion euros went to equity ETFs and 13 billion euros to bond ETFs. “Sales were above average for both equity and bond ETFs, although they fell far short of the record figures from the first two months of this year,” the report states. Crossflow observes greater diversification away from the otherwise popular MSCI World: nearly €11 billion flowed into “All-Country-World” ETFs. 

Bonds: Interest in Emerging Markets

Things are quiet in the bond ETF market. At Société Générale, most activity revolves around money market trackers. However, there is also strong demand for an emerging markets bond ETF, the iShares J.P. Morgan EM Local Government Bond (IE00B5M4WH52).

A Bit More Activity in Crypto Trading

According to traders, trading in crypto ETNs has picked up again somewhat. Seipp from ICF reports significant outflows and “hardly any support buying,” while Völker from Lang & Schwarz notes more trading in both directions. “It’s largely about the second and third tiers, such as the 21shares Hyperliquid Staking (CH1471826029),” he specifies. Bitcoin has recently lost ground again and is currently trading around $62,600—at its peak in October 2025, it was over $126,000. 

By Anna-Maria Borse, June 9, 2026, © Deutsche Börse AG

About the Author

Anna-Maria Borse is a finance and business editor specializing in financial markets, the stock market, and economic issues.

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