Which ASX ETF Categories Are Leading? Every ASX Exchange Traded Product Ranked

Written by Christopher Hall, AdvDipFP | Authorised Representative, AFSL 526688 | Updated August 2026

Data current as of week ending 7 August 2026. This page is updated every week.

The ASX ETF categories leading the market depend entirely on whether performance is measured by breadth or by leadership. Across all 402 ASX-listed exchange traded products sorted into the 21 categories the exchange itself publishes, Equity – Global recorded the strongest average across every fund in the group over the quarter to 7 August 2026 at +6.89%. Measured instead by each category's three strongest funds, Equity – Global Sectors led at +32.86%. Both categories have now held those positions for three consecutive weeks — but the distance between the two measures widened again, reversing the previous week's narrowing, and the movement beneath the leaders was substantial: Australian small and mid caps produced the strongest one-week breadth figure of any category while Asia and emerging markets fell sharply. This page ranks every category on both measures each week, keeps the running record of which category has led most often, and explains what the gap between the two numbers reveals.

What Are the 21 ASX ETF Categories, and How Are They Ranked?

The ASX ETF categories are the 21 groupings the exchange applies to every quoted exchange traded product in its monthly Exchange Traded Product report — spanning Australian and global equity, property, fixed income, cash, mixed asset, currency, commodity and crypto. The taxonomy is the exchange's, not ours, which is what makes it a neutral frame for comparison.

Each category is measured two ways across four rolling periods — one week, one month, one quarter and one year:

• All-member average (breadth) — the equal-weighted mean return of every fund in the category reporting data for that period.

• Top-3 average (leadership) — the mean return of the three strongest funds in that category for that period.

Two measures are necessary because a category is not a single instrument. Equity – Global Sectors alone holds 79 funds spanning cybersecurity, semiconductors, gold miners, uranium, hydrogen and biotech. One average across all 79 describes none of them.

Method. 402 actively classified exchange traded products as at 7 August 2026, from the weekly ASX ETP performance export. Twelve rows in the watchlist were excluded as not being live exchange traded products — eleven individual company shares and one dormant listing carrying no price and no return data. A fund with no reported return for a period is excluded from that period only, never counted as zero. All figures are equal-weighted — no fund is weighted by size. Nineteen of the 21 categories had constituents this week.

Which ASX ETF Categories Led This Week?

Equity – Global Sectors produced the strongest leadership figure while Equity – Global led on breadth. The two measures name different winners, and each answers a different question.

Category	Funds	Breadth Q%	Leadership Q%
Equity – Global Sectors	79	+3.76	+32.86
Equity – Global Strategy	86	+4.89	+12.28
Equity – Global	34	+6.89	+10.86
Equity – Australia Strategy	27	+4.12	+9.65
Equity – Australia Sectors	27	+4.11	+9.13
Equity – Asia	17	+1.37	+7.30
Mixed Asset	16	+4.86	+7.23
Equity – Australia Small/Mid Cap	9	+3.90	+6.20
Equity – Australia	10	+4.80	+5.44
Equity – Emerging Markets	9	+1.99	+5.09
Property – Australia	3	+4.55	+4.55
Australian Indices	6	+1.43	+2.83
Equity – Infrastructure	6	+1.17	+1.99
Fixed Income – Australian Dollar	43	+1.24	+1.97
Fixed Income – Fixed Term	4	+1.77	+1.84
Currency	3	+1.61	+1.61
Cash	5	+1.17	+1.18
Commodity	13	−8.99	−4.25
Crypto Assets	5	−19.94	−19.38

All figures cover the 13-week rolling period to 7 August 2026, equal-weighted across the funds in each category reporting data. Property – Australia and Currency hold three funds each, so their breadth and leadership figures are identical.

The funds carrying the leading figure were BUGG, HACK and TECH — two cybersecurity funds and a global technology fund, the same three for a third consecutive week, named as evidence for the category's number rather than as a ranking of funds. The individual-fund view is maintained in the weekly ASX ETF rankings, and what those three funds share is examined in this week's crossover comparison.

The Australian improvement continued and broadened. Every Australian equity category has now recorded a positive quarterly breadth average for two consecutive runs, and three of the four improved again over the week: Equity – Australia Strategy from +3.06% to +4.12%, Equity – Australia Sectors from +3.50% to +4.11%, and Equity – Australia from +4.60% to +4.80%. The largest movement came from Australia Small/Mid Cap, which rose from +0.92% to +3.90% and also recorded the strongest one-week breadth figure of any category at +4.29%.

Asia and emerging markets moved the other way. Equity – Asia's breadth average fell from +4.98% to +1.37% and Equity – Emerging Markets from +6.85% to +1.99% — the two largest declines on the board. Asia's leadership figure fell from +12.16% to +7.30%, and the funds behind it rotated away from the North Asian technology cohort that carried it in July. That cohort now appears only in the one-year column, where Equity – Asia's leadership figure is +55.52%.

Over shorter windows the leadership changes hands. Measured on the week rather than the quarter, Equity – Global Sectors again led on leadership at +10.80%, but through a different trio — the gold-miner funds GDX and MNRS alongside the defence fund DFND, not the cybersecurity names that carry its quarterly figure. Commodity recorded the second-strongest one-week breadth average of any category at +4.22% against a quarterly average of −8.99%: a category can be among the week's strongest and the quarter's weakest at once.

A leading category is a momentum observation, not an endorsement. A high ranking records price movement that has already occurred over a defined period. It carries no assessment of merit, value or suitability.

Why Does a Category's Average Hide Its Strongest Funds?

The broader a category, the less its average describes anything inside it. The five widest gaps between leadership and breadth this week:

Category	Breadth Q%	Leadership Q%	Gap (pp)
Equity – Global Sectors	+3.76	+32.86	29.1
Equity – Global Strategy	+4.89	+12.28	7.4
Equity – Asia	+1.37	+7.30	5.9
Equity – Australia Strategy	+4.12	+9.65	5.5
Equity – Australia Sectors	+4.11	+9.13	5.0

Equity – Global Sectors remains the clearest case, and the direction of travel is as informative as the level. Its gap narrowed from 33.5 percentage points to 26.4 a week earlier; this week it widened again to 29.1, driven from both ends: the category's leadership figure rose from +30.27% to +32.86% while its breadth average slipped from +3.89% to +3.76%. The previous week's reading — leadership cooling while participation widened — did not hold. Across 79 funds, three are producing a figure the other 76 do not share.

The scale of that gap is easier to read against the rest of the board than against its own history: at 29.1 percentage points it is roughly four times the next-largest, Equity – Global Strategy, at 7.4 percentage points across 86 funds. Its own three-run range has been 33.5, 26.4 and 29.1 — wide throughout.

The dispersion is visible elsewhere too. Over the quarter to 7 August, the precious-metals funds sitting in the Commodity category remained down between roughly 6% and 10% — gold-bullion products GOLD, PMGOLD, NUGG and GXLD, and the gold-miner funds GDX and MNRS — with the silver product ETPMAG down about 18%, which is the arithmetic behind Commodity's −8.99% breadth reading. Over the single week to 7 August the same funds moved sharply the other way, with GDX and MNRS the two strongest one-week performers anywhere in Equity – Global Sectors. Those movements are recorded alongside one another; the data establishes no causal link between them.

What relative strength research indicates about group leadership

Leadership within a group, rather than the group average, is the measure with published empirical support. Thomas Bulkowski, an independent market researcher and author of Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns (Wiley), ranked industries by relative strength across a database running from January 1995 to November 2007. Stocks in the top-ranked industry group advanced +23% over three months against −1% for the bottom-ranked group; extended to one year, +80% against +1%.

Bulkowski's data, published at thepatternsite.com, showed that a rules-based approach — buying the three strongest stocks from the highest-ranked industry by relative strength and selling when that rank decayed — generated average returns of 28.1% per trade from 2000 to 2008, compared to 2.3% for the S&P 500 over the same hold periods.

The parallel to the leadership measure is direct — Bulkowski's rule selected the three strongest constituents of the strongest group. The research was conducted on United States equities across an earlier period and is practitioner research rather than peer-reviewed work, so it establishes no expected return for any ASX fund.

The FMP Momentum Profile — published daily and accessible to FMP YouTube Momentum Profile members — tracks the market conditions that form the context for thematic articles like this one. Members receive early access to the educational data discussed in each weekly session.

Which ASX ETF Category Has Led Most Weeks?

This is the record that accumulates. Each weekly run appends one row per category to a continuing dataset, so the question of which category leads persistently — rather than once — becomes answerable over time.

Leadership log — most recent runs

Week ending	Breadth leader (quarter)	Leadership leader (quarter)	Funds behind the figure
21 Jul 2026	Equity – Global (+5.72%)	Equity – Global Sectors (+35.46%)	BUGG, HACK, SEMI
31 Jul 2026	Equity – Global (+7.71%)	Equity – Global Sectors (+30.27%)	BUGG, HACK, TECH
7 Aug 2026	Equity – Global (+6.89%)	Equity – Global Sectors (+32.86%)	BUGG, HACK, TECH

Weeks at #1 — all-time (tracking began 21 July 2026)

Category	Weeks as breadth leader	Weeks as leadership leader	Weeks in leadership top 3
Equity – Global	3	0	1
Equity – Global Sectors	0	3	3
Equity – Global Strategy	0	0	3
Equity – Asia	0	0	2

The two leaders have not changed, but the podium behind them has. Across all three runs Equity – Global Sectors has held the quarterly leadership lead and Equity – Global the breadth lead. The third place on the leadership measure moved this week: Equity – Asia occupied it in the first two runs and dropped to sixth, with Equity – Global taking its place. Equity – Global Sectors and Equity – Global Strategy are the only categories to have appeared in the leadership top three in every run.

Tracking commenced 21 July 2026. With three runs recorded, these tallies describe just under three weeks and no trend should be read into them. The first genuinely informative reading arrives once roughly eight weekly runs exist, from around mid-September 2026. This page is where that record is published as it builds.

How Do Momentum Traders Use ASX ETF Category Data?

Category data functions as a top-down filter — locating where strength is concentrated before any individual fund is examined. The academic case for treating prior relative strength as informative is long established.

Research by Jegadeesh and Titman, published in the Journal of Finance in 1993, found that momentum strategies generated 12.01% annual excess returns over a 24-year period — establishing momentum as one of the most robust anomalies in financial markets.

Applied to categories, three observations follow. The leadership measure identifies which group holds genuine strength, since a category can rank poorly on breadth and still contain the market's strongest funds. The gap between the two measures shows whether that strength is broad or narrow — and, tracked week to week, whether it is broadening or concentrating. And tracking both reveals when leadership transfers, which is the reason the record is kept rather than the snapshot.

Momentum traders apply comparable reasoning at the stock-sector level through the sector rotation entry framework. ASX ETF categories are the exchange's own product taxonomy, distinct from the Finer Market Points thematic classifications used on company pages; the two are never mapped onto one another.

Category data does not replace fund-level analysis. Fees, structure, currency hedging and index methodology all vary within a category and none appear in a return average — the regional detail for the Asian cohort is set out in Asian ETFs on the ASX, and the currency question in the hedged versus unhedged decision. Traders in this situation may wish to speak with a qualified financial adviser about whether a particular product suits their circumstances.

Conclusion

Leadership re-concentrated after a week of widening. Equity – Global Sectors produced the strongest leadership figure of any category over the quarter to 7 August 2026 at +32.86% while its 79-member breadth average of +3.76% concealed almost all of it, and Equity – Global led on breadth at +6.89%. The gap between those two views widened from 26.4 back to 29.1 percentage points, reversing the previous week's narrowing, while the week's actual movement went elsewhere — into Australian small and mid caps and hard assets, and out of Asia and emerging markets. Christopher Hall updates these ASX ETF categories every week on this page, and the accumulating record — not any single week — is what will show whether the present concentration persists or moves.

Access the Underlying Data

This page draws on publicly available research data compiled for the FMP editorial program. The FMP Momentum Profile and the weekly session recordings — where ASX momentum stocks and the market conditions covered in thematic articles like this one are reviewed in real time — are accessible to FMP YouTube Momentum Profile members. Members receive early access to the educational data that forms the basis of articles like this one. For information on FMP YouTube Momentum Profile membership, visit the FMP YouTube membership page.

About the Author

Christopher Hall, AdvDipFP, is an Authorised Representative operating under AFSL 526688 and writes the Finer Market Points educational program covering Australian momentum markets. He maintains the weekly ASX ETF categories record published on this page.

Remember that past performance is no guarantee of future results, and all trading involves risk.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the ASX ETF categories?

The ASX sorts every quoted exchange traded product into 21 categories in its monthly Exchange Traded Product report: Equity – Australia, Australia Small/Mid Cap, Australia Sectors, Australia Strategy, Global, Asia, Emerging Markets, Global Sectors, Global Strategy and Infrastructure; Property – Australia and Property – Global; Fixed Income – Australian Dollar, Fixed Income – Global and Fixed Income – Fixed Term; plus Cash, Mixed Asset, Currency, Commodity, Crypto Assets and Australian Indices.

Which ASX ETF category performed best this quarter?

Two answers apply to the quarter ending 7 August 2026, across 402 classified products. Measured by the average of all funds in a category, Equity – Global led at +6.89%. Measured by each category's three strongest funds, Equity – Global Sectors led at +32.86%. Both categories have held those positions for three consecutive weekly runs. Both figures are equal-weighted and cover that single 13-week window.

Which ASX ETF category has led most weeks?

Tracking began on 21 July 2026. After three runs, Equity – Global holds three weeks as breadth leader and Equity – Global Sectors three weeks as leadership leader, both measured on the quarterly period. Equity – Global Sectors and Equity – Global Strategy are the only categories to have appeared in the leadership top three in every run; Equity – Asia held third place in the first two runs and fell to sixth in the third. Three runs are not a trend — a meaningful tally requires roughly eight weekly runs, expected from around mid-September 2026, and this page publishes the record as it accumulates.

What is the difference between an all-member average and a top-3 average?

The all-member average is the equal-weighted mean return of every fund in a category reporting data, describing breadth. The top-3 average is the mean of that category's three strongest funds over the same period, describing leadership. A wide gap indicates a small number of funds are producing the category's return while most constituents lag.

Why can an ETF category average be misleading?

Categories can contain funds holding unrelated assets. Equity – Global Sectors held 79 funds covering cybersecurity, semiconductors, gold miners, uranium, hydrogen and biotech as at 7 August 2026. Its three strongest funds averaged +32.86% over the quarter while the average across all 79 was +3.76% — a gap of 29.1 percentage points, meaning the category figure described neither the leaders nor the rest.

How many ETFs are listed on the ASX?

This analysis classified 402 actively tracked exchange traded products as at 7 August 2026, covering index ETFs, active ETFs, structured products and commodity trusts. Twelve rows in the source watchlist were excluded: eleven individual company shares, which are not exchange traded products, and one dormant listing carrying no price and no return data. The figure reflects one weekly export and moves as products list and delist.

Which ASX ETF category performed worst this quarter?

Crypto Assets recorded the weakest breadth figure at −19.94% for the quarter to 7 August 2026, followed by Commodity at −8.99%. Measured on leadership instead, the same two categories were weakest, at −19.38% and −4.25% respectively. Every other category recorded a positive quarterly average. Crypto Assets deteriorated over the week, from −15.29%, while Commodity improved from −12.21%. All figures are equal-weighted across that single 13-week window.

Did Australian ETF categories improve this quarter?

Yes, across the three runs recorded so far. For the quarter to 21 July 2026 every Australian equity category carried a negative breadth average; for the quarter to 31 July every one was positive, and to 7 August three of the four improved again — Equity – Australia Strategy from +3.06% to +4.12%, Equity – Australia Sectors from +3.50% to +4.11% and Equity – Australia from +4.60% to +4.80%. Australia Small/Mid Cap moved the furthest, from +0.92% to +3.90%, and also produced the strongest one-week breadth figure of any category at +4.29%. These are three readings of a rolling 13-week window taken across just under three weeks, and the data records the change without establishing a cause.

Does a top-ranked ETF category mean it is a good investment?

No. Category rankings describe price movement that has already occurred across a defined historical period. They are momentum observations rather than assessments of merit, value or suitability, and they exclude fees, structure, currency hedging and index methodology — all of which differ between funds inside a single category.

How often is this ASX ETF category data updated?

Weekly. The series is recalculated each week from a full ASX exchange traded product performance export and appended to a continuing record, so changes in leadership can be tracked run to run. Each update reports the same two measures — all-member average and top-3 average — across one-week, one-month, one-quarter and one-year rolling periods.

How is this different from the ASX ETF momentum leaders list?

This page ranks the 21 ASX ETF categories as groups and names individual funds only as evidence for a category's figure. The momentum leaders list ranks individual funds by quarterly return without reference to category. A fund can appear on that list while its category ranks modestly on breadth — which is what occurred with the cybersecurity and technology funds inside Equity – Global Sectors over the quarter to 7 August 2026, where a +32.86% leadership figure sat against a +3.76% breadth average across 79 funds.

Sources

#	Source	Type
1	Christopher Hall, Finer Market Points. ASX exchange traded product category dataset — 402 products across 21 ASX categories, weekly ASX ETP performance export (Australian Warrant Exchange, an ASX market), weeks ending 21 July, 31 July and 7 August 2026.	FMP proprietary data
2	ASX Limited. Exchange Traded Product Report — category taxonomy for ASX-quoted exchange traded products (2026).	Published research
3	Bulkowski, T. Industry relative strength performance study, January 1995 – November 2007, and rules-based industry rank test, 2000–2008 (550 stocks, 114 trades). thepatternsite.com.	Published research
4	Bulkowski, T. Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns (Wiley).	Published research
5	Jegadeesh, N., & Titman, S. (1993). Returns to Buying Winners and Selling Losers: Implications for Stock Market Efficiency. Journal of Finance, 48(1), 65–91.	Published research

Related Finer Market Points Educational Resources

• ASX ETF Momentum Leaders: Top 10 by Quarterly Return — Christopher Hall

• BUGG vs HACK vs TECH: When a Theme Reaches Beyond Its Own Funds — Christopher Hall

• Asian ETFs on the ASX: The Complete List by Region (2026) — Christopher Hall

• Hedged vs Unhedged ETFs: Which Is Better for Australians? — Christopher Hall

• How ASX Momentum Traders Identify Sector Rotation Opportunities Before the Catalyst Arrives — Christopher Hall

Educational Disclaimer: This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Consider your financial situation and seek professional advice before making investment decisions.

Finer Market Points Pty Ltd, CAR 1304002, AFSL 526688, ABN 87 645 284 680. This general information is educational only and not financial advice, recommendation, forecast or solicitation. Consider your objectives, financial situation and needs before acting. Seek appropriate professional advice. We accept no liability for any loss or damages arising from use. Authors and presenters may hold positions in discussed companies and investment products.