The $1B Shift: Dissecting Weekly Performance and Flow Trends in Sector ETFs

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Weekly Channel Summary

The Sector & Industry ETF channel currently comprises 266 ETFs across 54 brands, managing a total of $879 billion in assets. For the week ending January 2, 2026, the channel experienced net outflows of $1.09 billion. Despite the weekly dip, the channel’s performance over the long term remains robust with $14.66 billion in net inflows over the past year, although year-to-date flows reflect a modest redemption of $0.50 billion.

This Week’s Performance Leaders and Laggards

Energy was the standout performer this week, leading all categories with a 3.14% return, which also helped push its year-to-date performance to 2.24%. Utilities and Industrials also saw positive momentum, gaining 0.99% and 0.74%, respectively. Conversely, Consumer Discretionary was the primary laggard, falling 2.15% on the week, followed by Health Care which dropped 1.39%. On a YTD basis, most categories have remained in positive territory, with Energy and Materials leading the pack.

Category Performance Snapshot

Category WTD 1 Month 3 Month 6 Month YTD 1 Year
Energy 3.14% 1.05% 4.98% 10.85% 2.24% 7.11%
Utilities 0.99% -0.77% -1.08% 7.93% 1.28% 17.21%
Industrial 0.74% 6.06% 3.12% 12.63% 2.12% 28.68%
Real Estate 0.00% 0.04% -0.90% 1.08% 0.25% 5.98%
Materials -0.34% 6.02% 4.92% 9.14% 1.96% 19.36%
Information Technology -0.42% 1.09% 2.47% 17.93% 1.42% 28.53%
Comm Services -0.75% 1.40% 1.97% 10.53% -0.49% 23.02%
Financials -0.91% 4.23% 4.47% 6.85% 0.66% 17.25%
Consumer Staples -0.96% -1.03% -1.53% -5.20% -0.06% -0.98%
Health Care -1.39% 0.70% 9.59% 20.00% 0.16% 19.10%
Consumer Discretionary -2.15% 0.79% -1.19% 5.20% -0.09% 7.58%

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by Weekly Performance

The single best-performing individual fund this week was the OIH (VanEck Oil Services ETF), which surged 5.10%. On the other end of the spectrum, the DVXY (WEBs Consumer Discretionary XLY Defined Volatility ETF) was the worst performer with a sharp decline of 6.10%, joined by the IGV (iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF) which lost 5.01%.

Ticker Fund Name WTD Performance
Top Performers
OIH VanEck Oil Services ETF 5.10%
XES State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF 5.06%
IEZ iShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF 5.05%
DVXE WEBs Energy XLE Defined Volatility ETF 4.94%
OILT Texas Capital Texas Oil Index ETF 4.06%
Bottom Performers
DVXY WEBs Consumer Discretionary XLY Defined Volatility ETF -6.10%
IGV iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF -5.01%
PSCH Invesco S&P SmallCap Health Care ETF -4.91%
XSW State Street SPDR S&P Software & Services ETF -3.85%
XPH State Street SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF -3.59%

Analyzing the Weekly Flows

Total net flows for the channel were negative this week, with a total redemption of $1.09 billion. Communication Services emerged as the top destination for capital, attracting $162 million in net inflows into its $36.3 billion asset base. Industrials also saw notable interest with $116 million in new money. However, these gains were offset by significant outflows in Health Care ($644 million) and Financials ($420 million).

Category Flows Summary

Category Fund Count AUM 5 Day Flow 30 Day Flow 90 Day Flow YTD Flow 1 Year Flow
Comm Services 7 $36.3B $162M $507M $663M $5M $3,606M
Industrial 28 $67.1B $116M $1,595M $2,433M ($16M) $7,032M
Information Technology 33 $342.2B $5M ($345M) $5,140M ($166M) $9,019M
Consumer Discretionary 15 $36.1B $4M $983M ($170M) $48M ($1,546M)
Materials 10 $10.0B ($30M) $274M ($105M) ($21M) ($774M)
Utilities 11 $37.4B ($44M) $557M $1,898M ($96M) $6,783M
Consumer Staples 13 $26.0B ($48M) ($264M) ($1,135M) ($62M) ($1,037M)
Real Estate 52 $82.3B ($81M) $2,094M $2,748M ($153M) $3,966M
Energy 31 $44.4B ($112M) ($300M) ($277M) ($6M) ($10,202M)
Financials 34 $100.6B ($420M) ($474M) ($2,694M) $52M ($391M)
Health Care 32 $96.2B ($644M) ($605M) $4,747M ($84M) ($1,795M)

Top & Bottom 5 ETFs by 5-Day Flow

At the individual fund level, the SMH (VanEck Semiconductor ETF) led the pack with $328 million in weekly inflows. Outflows were most pronounced in the XLK (Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund) and XBI (SPDR S&P Biotech ETF), which saw redemptions of $435 million and $426 million, respectively.

Ticker Fund Name 5-Day Flow
Inflows
SMH VanEck Semiconductor ETF $328M
SOXX iShares Semiconductor ETF $199M
XLC State Street Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF $130M
PPH VanEck Pharmaceutical ETF $124M
IAI iShares U.S. Broker-Dealers & Securities Exchange ETF $92M
Outflows
XLK State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF ($435M)
XBI State Street SPDR S&P Biotech ETF ($426M)
IBB iShares Biotechnology ETF ($204M)
VGT Vanguard Information Technology ETF ($149M)
VHT Vanguard Health Care ETF ($138M)

Issuer League Table Update

State Street (SPDR) and Vanguard remain the dominant players in the channel, commanding market shares of 41.70% and 25.59%, respectively. VanEck was the clear leader in gathering assets this week, netting $453 million in inflows. In contrast, SPDR experienced the largest outflows among the top issuers, shedding $1.56 billion in assets over the 5-day period.

Top 5 Issuers by AUM

Brand Fund Count AUM AUM Market Share
SPDR 30 $366.38B 41.70%
Vanguard 12 $224.78B 25.59%
iShares 49 $142.12B 16.18%
VanEck 11 $41.19B 4.69%
Fidelity 12 $33.69B 3.83%

Top & Bottom 3 Issuers by 5-Day Flow

Brand 5-Day Flow
Inflows
VanEck $453M
Fidelity $103M
iShares $49M
Outflows
SPDR ($1,555M)
Vanguard ($162M)
JPMorgan ($25M)

For a deeper dive into these trends, access our FREE, in-depth ETF reports in the right side panel of this page.

Disclosures

This material is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. All investments, including ETFs, involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Investors should consider their investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing.

This analysis was developed by the team at ETF Action. We leverage advanced AI tools to assist in the drafting and refinement of our content, based on our expert prompts, direction, and final review.