26/08/25 11:48:59

ETFs: “Focus on the US”

US stocks are chasing records, while here in Germany they are only moving sideways – the focus in ETF trading has therefore shifted back to the US. The topic remains unchanged: defense stocks, sometimes with losses depending on the news.

26 August 2025. FRANKFURT (Börse Frankfurt). The fact that the DAX is sluggish and the US markets have caught up strongly is also reflected in ETF trading: most of it revolves around US and global stocks. “The US is our main focus,” reports Michael Norizin of Lang & Schwarz. After the change of government in Germany, however, a lot of money flowed into German and European stocks. 
In the US, the Dow Jones reached a new record high on Friday, driven by hopes of interest rate cuts. At midday on Tuesday, the DAX stood at 24,138 points, moving further away from its all-time high of 24,639 points reached in July. Since the beginning of the year, the DAX is still ahead with a gain of 21 percent compared to the S&P 500 (9.7 percent). Over a six-month period, however, the S&P 500 is performing better than the DAX (6 percent) with a gain of 8 percent.

 

US stocks back in favor

Overall, inflows continue to dominate ETF trading, as Holger Heinrich of Baader Bank reports. He, too, has observed many purchases of US stocks. “The main focus is on the major indices, i.e., the S&P 500, MSCI USA, and Nasdaq 100,” he reports. In addition, dividend ETFs are also being bought. According to Norizin, the triple-leveraged Nasdaq ETN (IE00BLRPRL42) continues to be heavily traded.

Traders are also seeing mainly purchases for world ETFs. Popular at Baader Bank are the Fidelity Global Quality Income (IE000YUTMIU2), the Frankfurt Modern Value from Axxion (LU2439874319) and the Invesco Global Active Defensive ESG Equity (IE000XIBT2R7). Ivo Orlemann of ICF Bank has observed a lot of trading in both directions for the VanEck Morningstar Developed Markets Dividend Leaders (NL0011683594). This fund focuses on good dividend payers worldwide.  

European stocks are also in demand, but no longer on a large scale. According to Heinrich, Euro Stoxx 50, MSCI EMU Large Cap, and MSCI EMU ETFs are on the shopping lists. “Small caps are also being bought,” adds the trader, referring to the UBS MSCI EMU Small Cap (LU0671493277). At the individual country level, British, Swiss, and Spanish stocks are popular. 

Ivo Orlemann

Ivo Orlemann

Defense ETFs: “Some selling pressure”

In addition to tech stocks, defense stocks are once again the focus of trading in sector ETFs. “There is a lot of activity, but we are also seeing some selling pressure, depending on the news situation regarding the war in Ukraine,” Orlemann notes. VanEck Defense (IE000YYE6WK5) and WisdomTree Europe Defence (IE0002Y8CX98) are particularly strong in terms of turnover, with Global X Defence Tech (IE000JCW3DZ3) slightly less so. All three recorded losses around the time of the Ukraine meeting between Trump and Putin. After no progress was made, they rose again.

In addition, the banking sector, which has performed particularly well this year, is also attracting attention. Currently high Xetra turnover is being recorded by the iShares Euro Stoxx Banks 30-15 (DE0006289309), the iShares Stoxx Europe 600 Banks (DE000A0F5UJ7) and the Amundi Euro Stoxx Banks (LU1829219390). The WisdomTree Euro Stoxx Banks 3x Daily Leveraged ETN (IE00BLS09N40) continues to be popular with Lang & Schwarz's trading-oriented clientele. 

Lively crypto ETN trading

There is also a lot going on in crypto ETN trading. According to Orlemann, most of it revolves around Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana trackers. “There is no clear direction; we are seeing both buying and selling,” explains the trader. Norizin also reports inflows and outflows in the major coins, especially the Bitcoin ETNs from 21Shares (CH1199067674, CH0454664001) and Bitwise (DE000A27Z304). Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of $124,034 in mid-August and is currently trading at $110,260.
 

By Anna-Maria Borse, 26 August 2025, © Deutsche Börse AG

Anna-Maria Borse is a finance and economics editor specializing in financial markets/stock exchanges and economic issues.

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