US Stocks Reclaim the Lead in April's $174B ETF Haul

Money continued to pour into US-listed ETFs at a rapid clip in April, with $173.9 billion entering the space. Year-to-date inflows now stand at an incredible $672.9 billion after just four months, according to data from FactSet. 

But in contrast to Q1, when international stocks led US stocks, April flipped the script. US equity ETFs took in $103 billion, though international equity ETF inflows remained healthy at $41.3 billion. US fixed income followed with $24.6 billion. 

On the outflows side, leveraged ETFs lost $14.2 billion while commodities ETFs shed $934 million.

April was a great month for stocks. After the Iran/Israel/US war pushed the S&P 500 down by more than 9% from its highs, the index went straight up in April, recovering all those losses and then some. 

The index is now up nearly 6% on the year. International stocks followed a similar V-shaped pattern, though their early 2026 lead has narrowed as US stocks outperformed recently. The Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS) is up 10% YTD. 

On the other hand, bond prices were flat to slightly lower in April as concerns about inflation weighed, with oil sitting near its highest levels since 2022.

Flows Winners

Taking a look at individual ETFs, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) led with $25.2 billion of inflows, bringing its YTD haul to $47.4 billion. Another notable winner was the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), which picked up $3.9 billion in April. 

Semis skyrocketed during the month, with SMH gaining 32%. 

Broader tech-heavy ETFs also soared and attracted investor dollars. The Invesco Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQM) took in $3.1 billion and the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) gathered $3 billion.

Not everyone was buying the tech rally, though. The Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3X Shares (SOXS)—an inverse ETF—pulled in $2.4 billion. 

Some of that could be outright bearish bets against the rally in semis, while some could be hedging against the massive moves in semi stocks.

Flows Losers

We saw similar moves echoed on the outflows side. Investors pulled $8.5 billion from the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (SOXL) in April, the most of any ETF. The fund soared a monster 165% during the month, so some of those outflows could be investors taking chips off the table after the big run. ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) outflows of $5.1 billion signal something similar.

Other ETFs to shed assets during the month include the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM), which lost $3.5 billion, the SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL), which lost $3.4 billion, and the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG), which shed $3 billion.

For a full list of the top inflows and outflows for April and 2026 as a whole, see the tables below.