On February 26, the A-share market entered a phase of high volatility and divergence following consecutive gains, with the two bourses recording a total turnover of 2.54 trillion yuan.
Some capital seized the opportunity to exit. On Thursday, stock ETFs, including cross-border ETFs, experienced net outflows exceeding 235 billion yuan. Sector-specific ETFs such as those tracking the Hang Seng Tech Index, securities, China-concept internet stocks, and new energy led in net inflows. Conversely, broad-based ETFs tracking indices like the CSI 500, CSI 1000, CSI 300, A500, and STAR 50 saw significant net outflows.
Since the beginning of February, aggregate net outflows from stock ETFs have surpassed 200 billion yuan. Over a five-day period, recent inflows into ETFs linked to the Hang Seng Tech Index exceeded 132 billion yuan, while ETFs tracking the China Internet 50 Index attracted over 37 billion yuan.
According to Wind data, as of February 26, 2026, the total assets under management for 1,344 stock ETFs reached 4.13 trillion yuan.
Following the market's sustained rally, some investors took profits. Data shows that on February 26, the total shares outstanding for stock ETFs decreased by 8.073 billion. Based on the average trading price, this translated to net outflows of over 235 billion yuan for the day, marking the second consecutive trading day of net outflows for the week. Among these, 23 stock ETFs still recorded net inflows of more than 1 billion yuan each, with the Hang Seng Tech ETF (Hua Tai-PineBridge), Grid Equipment ETF (ChinaAMC), and Securities ETF (Guotai) leading the inflows.
Market-wide, net outflows dominated on February 26, totaling 226.5 billion yuan. By category, ETFs focused on the Hong Kong market and commodity ETFs saw the highest net inflows, at 17.4 billion yuan and 9.76 billion yuan respectively. Broad-based ETFs experienced the largest net outflows, amounting to 214.03 billion yuan, with their total assets declining by 208.54 billion yuan.
Data from E Fund Management showed that the top five sectors attracting inflows that day were Hang Seng Tech (net inflow 24.9 billion yuan), securities (net inflow 14.3 billion yuan), gold (net inflow 8.7 billion yuan), China-concept internet (net inflow 5.5 billion yuan), and new energy (net inflow 4.2 billion yuan).
On an index-specific basis, the Hang Seng Tech Index led with net inflows of 25.07 billion yuan on February 26, while the CSI 500 Index saw the largest single-day net outflow of 60.08 billion yuan. Over a five-day horizon, inflows into the Hang Seng Tech Index surpassed 132 billion yuan, and the China Internet 50 Index attracted over 37 billion yuan.
Additionally, 54 stock ETFs recorded net outflows exceeding 1 billion yuan each. Broad-based ETFs tracking indices like the CSI 500, CSI 1000, CSI 300, A500, and STAR 50, along with sector ETFs focused on chemicals, batteries, robotics, and STAR market chips, were among those with significant outflows.
Data indicates that ETF products under leading asset managers continued to attract capital. On February 26, E Fund's China-concept Internet ETF saw its assets reach 43.135 billion yuan with a net inflow of 479 million yuan; its ChiNext ETF held assets of 61.664 billion yuan with a net inflow of 233 million yuan; its Hang Seng Tech ETF had assets of 30.003 billion yuan with a net inflow of 189 million yuan; its Hong Kong Stock Connect Innovative Pharma ETF managed 4.072 billion yuan with a net inflow of 43 million yuan; and its Hong Kong Stock Connect Internet ETF held 9.774 billion yuan with a net inflow of 30 million yuan.
Among ChinaAMC's ETFs, the Grid Equipment ETF and the Hang Seng Tech Index ETF led net inflows on the previous trading day, attracting 924 million yuan and 244 million yuan respectively. Their latest asset sizes were 22.022 billion yuan and 51.759 billion yuan, with their underlying indices' average daily turnover over the past month being 1.315 billion yuan and 4.852 billion yuan respectively.
WanJia Asset Management expressed that in the short to medium term, projects related to new and traditional infrastructure are expected to gradually commence since 2026, and signs of stabilization in the real estate sector are increasing. Policies supporting macroeconomic expectations are anticipated to be implemented leading up to the "Two Sessions," with post-holiday market liquidity expected to rebound and risk appetite to improve significantly. Long-term, amid escalating global political and geopolitical tensions, the trend of fiscal and monetary expansion in various countries is likely to intensify. Coupled with domestic policies aimed at boosting domestic demand under the 15th Five-Year Plan, major A-share broad indices are expected to see a gradual upward shift in their bottom ranges.
Galaxy Asset Management suggested that going forward, attention should be paid to fluctuations in trading volume, whether industries in the price-increase chain can sustain validation through prices and earnings, and the pace of capital rebalancing between cyclical and growth sectors.
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