ETFs: “Europe and emerging markets on the rise”

Trading continues to be brisk on the ETF markets. However, the favorites have changed somewhat compared to last year. Nevertheless, everything related to precious metals, armaments, and defense remains in high demand.

January 27, 2026. FRANKFURT (Deutsche Börse). “With sales rising significantly, purchases and sales are roughly balanced,” says Holger Heinrich of Baader Bank AG, summarizing the current market situation. Ivo Orlemann, a trader at ICF Bank, also notes that sales have “increased significantly.” Investor interest is increasingly focused on stocks from Europe and emerging markets. US stocks, which have long been favored, have recently seen “a bit of air let out,” as Frank Mohr of Société Générale puts it.

Overall, purchases continue to outweigh sales for both US index funds and global ETFs. However, according to Mohr, the surplus is “no longer so extreme.” The most popular funds are Amundi Prime All Country World (IE0009HF1MK9), Xtrackers MSCI World (IE00BJ0KDQ92), and Xtrackers S&P 500 Equal Weight Score & Screened (IE0004MFRED4). Heinrich reports strong demand for broadly diversified ETFs (IE00B60SX394) and ESG products (IE00B441G979) among global ETFs. Among US funds, the focus is primarily on S&P 500 variants (IE00BHXMHK04 and IE00BLNMYC90).

Profit from falling prices with ETFs

On the selling side, there are an increasing number of US tech index funds such as the Invesco Nasdaq-100 ESG (IE000COQKPO9), the Amundi Nasdaq-100 (LU1681038243) and the Leverage Shares 5x Long Magnificent 7 ETP Securities (XS2779861249). According to Heinrich, it is also striking that investors are specifically focusing on products that benefit from falling prices on the US stock markets. Heinrich cites purchases of the Xtrackers S&P 500 Inverse Daily Swap (LU0322251520) and the Xtrackers S&P 500 2x Inverse Daily Swap (LU0411078636) as examples.

The slight decline in enthusiasm for US big tech is also evident in sector ETFs, where the technology sector, which had been the dominant favorite investment for many months, has now been replaced by utilities. Investors seem to be sensing opportunities here, particularly in the US market, in view of high government investment. Mohr has observed strong buying of the SPDR S&P U.S. Utilities Select Sector (IE00BWBXMB69) and the Amundi MSCI Water (FR0010527275). In Europe, the Xtrackers MSCI Europe Utilities Screened (LU0292104899) is on the shopping lists.

Precious metals surge sparks interest

Shares in the armaments and defense sector remain in demand. Orlemann names WisdomTree Europe Defense (IE0002Y8CX98) and VanEck Defense (IE000YYE6WK5) as his favorites. VanEck Gold Miners (IE00BQQP9F84) and Global X Silver Miners (IE000UL6CLP7), both trading at all-time highs, are also very popular due to the continuing surge in gold and silver prices. Also in demand is VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals (IE0002PG6CA6), which specializes in the rare earths segment, among others, and has just reached a new multi-year high.

“Significantly greater interest” in EM funds

According to Heinrich, “German and eurozone-related basic investments in particular” dominate on the buyer side in Europe. These include the Deka DAX (DE000ETFL011), the Amundi Core DAX (LU2611732046), the Xtrackers Euro Stoxx 50 (LU0380865021) and the Amundi Core EURO STOXX 50 (LU1681047319) .

Demand for ETFs on emerging market equities is growing steadily. Mohr sees strong buying in the Amundi MSCI Em Asia (LU1681044480). Orlemann highlights the HSBC MSCI Emerging Markets (IE000KCS7J59). Overall, interest in this region is “significantly greater than in previous years,” reports Mohr.