13/05/25 13:17:43

ETFs: “The trend towards Europe continues”

Trading in exchange-traded funds is characterized by increasing turnover and investor shifts. The preferred motto is “out of the USA and into Europe”. Gold is also high on the shopping lists.


13. May 2025 FRANKFURT (Börse Frankfurt): The ongoing recovery on the stock markets is also leading to more activity in ETF trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. “Still much quieter than at the beginning of April, but nevertheless good turnover,” is how Frank Mohr from Société Générale describes the current situation. Holger Heinrich from Baader Bank AG even speaks of “significantly higher turnover” and around 30 percent more buying than selling. Investors continue to be most active in European index funds. Variants of the MSCI Europe (LU1737652310), the MSCI Europe Value (IE00BSPLC306) and the MSCI Europe Quality Factor (IE00BQN1K562) are being bought. Heinrich sees losses in the STOXX Europe 600 (LU1772333404; LU0599613147).

Mohr, on the other hand, sees a buy overhang for the Amundi STOXX Europe 600 (LU0908500753) and the iShares STOXX Europe 600 (DE0002635307). “The positive trend towards Europe continues”. Among the country ETFs, the Xtrackers DAX (LU0274211480) is on the buy list after the German benchmark index was able to fully recover its losses incurred during the “customs crash”. According to Heinrich, the Vanguard FTSE 100 (IE00B810Q511) is on the sell list.

US index funds are being sold

Traders are seeing profit-taking in the classic US index funds, which have performed above average in recent years. “For the first time, we are seeing more sales than purchases,” reports Mohr. Products on the S&P 500 (LU2009147757, IE00B3XXRP09, IE00B3ZW0K18) in particular are being sold. Heinrich adds another ETF (FR0011550680) in this category to the list. He also reports sales for the UBS MSCI USA (IE00B77D4428) and the iShares Edge S&P 500 Minimum Volatility (IE00BYX8XD24). Overall, the mixed trading picture reflects “increasing investor caution”, according to the ETF trader.

Mohr

Frank Mohr

The technology sector continues to show very high turnover. “This is by far the most active sector ETF segment,” explains Mohr. The iShares S&P 500 IT Sector (IE00B3WJKG14) in particular is being “heavily traded on both sides”. The Basic Materials sector, which also includes gold mining shares, is also in focus. The trader reported significant buying for iShares Gold Producers (IE00B6R52036) and UBS Solactive Global Pure Gold Miners (IE00B7KMNP07). Buying also predominates in the financials (IE000KYX7IP4). Ivo Orlemann from ICF Bank reports “continued top turnover” in the very well-performing armaments and defense ETFs (IE000JCW3DZ3, IE000YYE6WK5, IE0002Y8CX98)

Ivo Orlemann

Ivo Orlemann

Strong demand for gold ETCs

The commodity ETC segment is also relatively busy. The precious metals gold (JE00B1VS3770, JE00BN2CJ301, XS2852999775) and silver (IE00B43VDT70, JE00B1VS3333) are particularly sought after. Trading in crypto ETNs is comparatively quiet despite the significant rise in prices. Only in VanEck Bitcoin (DE000A28M8D0) “there is always something going on”, explains Orlemann.

By Thomas Koch, 13. May 2025, Deutsche Börse AG ©

Thomas Koch is a CEFA investment analyst, investment specialist for structured products and a certified certificate consultant. He has been a freelance journalist covering events on the capital markets since the beginning of 2006.

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