ETFs: “Trend is moving toward Europe and emerging markets”

Change in favorites on the ETF market: less US and tech, more Europe and emerging markets. Indices such as the MSCI Europe and MSCI EM have already reached record highs. The Nasdaq 100 tech index is lagging behind. 

February 24, 2026. FRANKFURT (Deutsche Börse). Despite new tariff uncertainties following the US Supreme Court ruling and the threat of war with Iran, stock markets and ETF demand remain stable. “There was no sign of panic yesterday, Monday, with purchases outweighing sales overall,” reports Frank Mohr of Société Générale. However, the buying surplus is particularly pronounced for European and emerging market stocks. The picture is almost balanced for US and global stocks. “The trend is toward Europe and emerging markets,” explains Maurice Mohnfeld of Lang & Schwarz. There is no longer as much activity in silver price ETCs. At ICF Bank, gold and silver ETCs are still the top sellers in terms of turnover. “However, the volume has declined significantly compared to the extremely lively previous weeks,” notes Ivo Orlemann.

Skepticism toward US stocks

The sell-off of US and tech stocks seen in the previous week did not continue, but skepticism remains: Mohr reports “only a slight buying surplus” and outflows from iShares' S&P 500 and Nasdaq ETFs (IE00B5BMR087, IE00B53SZB19). On the other hand, he sees buying in S&P 500 ETFs from Vanguard or Amundi. Buying also dominated trading in world ETFs, but only moderately. Here, MSCI World trackers from iShares are on the sell lists (IE00B4L5Y983). On the other hand, Vanguard FTSE All-World (IE00BK5BQT80) and Amundi Global Equity Quality Income (LU0832436512) are being snapped up.

On the other hand, stocks from Europe and emerging markets are performing well. Examples include the iShares Core MSCI Europe (IE00B4K48X80), the Amundi Core Stoxx Europe 600 (LU0908500753), and MSCI Emerging Markets ETFs from various issuers. Mohrfeld confirms this: “MSCI Emerging Markets ETFs are actually in demand, rather than MSCI Asia ETFs.” MSCI Emerging Markets lagged behind MSCI World for many years, but now the picture has changed. The index has been rising almost continuously since April last year and has reached an all-time high. MSCI Europe and Stoxx Europe 600 are also climbing to new highs.

• More on this: msci.com