Stock ETFs are once again seeing profit-taking activities. Two major directions for capital inflows have emerged. On March 16, led by the Hang Seng Tech Index, Hong Kong stocks outperformed significantly, driving a V-shaped market reversal. As the market rebounded, net inflows into stock ETFs—often regarded as a contrarian indicator—declined noticeably.
According to data from Galaxy Securities Fund Research Center, stock ETFs (including cross-border ETFs) experienced a net outflow of ¥666 million on March 16, a sharp contrast to the net inflow of over ¥7.7 billion recorded in the previous trading session.
Notably, despite the strong performance of Hong Kong stocks, neither Hang Seng Tech ETFs nor Hong Kong-listed biotech ETFs showed significant capital movements. Instead, investors preferred adding exposure to A-shares through broad-market ETFs and new energy ETFs that had recently pulled back.
As of March 16, the total assets under management of 1,348 stock ETFs (including cross-border ETFs) reached ¥3.78 trillion. During the market rebound, these ETFs recorded a net outflow of ¥666 million, reversing the previous session’s inflow trend.
By category, strategy-style ETFs and broad-market ETFs led inflows, with net increases of ¥2.568 billion and ¥2.529 billion, respectively. Sector-themed ETFs, however, saw the largest outflows, totaling ¥4.742 billion. In terms of scale changes, Hong Kong market ETFs expanded by ¥14.291 billion.
At the index level, ETFs tracking the CSI 500 Index recorded the highest single-day net inflow at ¥1.341 billion, while those tracking the specialized chemical index faced the largest outflow, losing ¥1.766 billion. Over the past five trading days, ETFs linked to the SGE Gold 9999 Index attracted over ¥4.3 billion, and those following the free cash flow index drew more than ¥2.6 billion.
Several ETFs under major fund houses continued to attract inflows. E Fund Management, for instance, reported a total ETF AUM of ¥635.452 billion, with a daily increase of ¥2.93 billion. Key inflows included: - Grid Equipment ETF E Fund: AUM ¥1.324 billion, inflow ¥182 million - STAR 50 ETF E Fund: AUM ¥39.952 billion, inflow ¥165 million - Battery Storage ETF E Fund: AUM ¥6.622 billion, inflow ¥154 million - Gold ETF E Fund: AUM ¥46.777 billion, inflow ¥153 million - CSI 300 ETF E Fund: AUM ¥143.373 billion, inflow ¥147 million
ChinaAMC ETFs also saw notable inflows: - SSE 50 ETF: inflow ¥1.088 billion, AUM ¥70.29 billion - Free Cash Flow ETF: inflow ¥370 million, AUM ¥18.241 billion - STAR 50 ETF ChinaAMC: inflow ¥241 million - Grid Equipment ETF ChinaAMC: inflow ¥213 million - Robotics ETF and Gold ETF ChinaAMC each attracted over ¥100 million
Among individual ETFs, broad-market A-share ETFs, along with free cash flow, dividend, and new energy ETFs, remained popular. Wind data showed that the top four non-monetary ETF inflows were all broad-market products: - ChinaAMC SSE 50 ETF led with ¥1.088 billion - Two CSI 500 ETFs under China Southern and Harvest Fund followed with ¥713 million and ¥661 million, respectively - Huatai-PB CSI 300 ETF attracted over ¥500 million
ChinaAMC Free Cash Flow ETF and Huatai-PB Dividend Low Volatility ETF also saw inflows of ¥370 million and ¥345 million, respectively. New energy ETFs, despite recent corrections, attracted active buying, with Harvest Green Power ETF and China Southern New Energy ETF each gaining over ¥300 million.
Since geopolitical tensions escalated in the Middle East on February 28, market allocation trends have shifted. From February 28 to March 16, ChinaAMC Grid Equipment ETF recorded a net inflow of over ¥9.6 billion, making it the only ETF nearing ¥10 billion in inflows. GTJA Grid ETF also attracted nearly ¥3 billion.
ChinaAMC analysts attribute the strength in grid equipment to the concept of "Token出海" (Token Going Global)—where Chinese AI models and services are offered globally. API requests from developers are routed via cross-border optical cables to Chinese data centers, where GPU clusters perform inference using stable, low-cost green power. Results are returned as tokens for settlement. This process exports not only AI services but also the green electricity underpinning computing power, with grid equipment forming the foundational support.
Despite inflation concerns from rising oil prices and weakened expectations for Fed rate cuts—pressuring gold prices—investors continued buying gold ETFs on dips. From February 28 to March 16, three gold ETFs ranked among the top ten non-monetary ETF inflows: - Huaan Gold ETF - E Fund Gold ETF - GTJA Gold ETF Together, these products attracted nearly ¥12 billion.
On the outflow side, Penghua Chemical ETF and Bosera Convertible Bond ETF each saw outflows exceeding ¥1 billion, while China Southern Nonferrous Metals ETF lost nearly ¥1 billion.
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