Specialty Equities and Leveraged Non-Traditional ETFs Dominate Volume in Balanced Session

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Macro Summary

The total ETF market volume reached $260.19B during the May 29, 2026 session, representing activity at 103% of the 30-day average. The session was balanced, with most asset classes trading near their average daily volumes. Equity dominated total turnover at $164.62B (101% of ADV), while Non-Traditional strategies continued to see strong engagement, printing $50.06B (104% of ADV). Notably, Currency ETFs experienced outsized activity relative to their baseline, trading at 158% of their 30-day average, albeit on lower absolute volume ($176.3M).

Asset Class Volume 30D Avg. % of 30D Avg.
Equity $164.62B $163.08B 101%
Fixed Income $32.7B $27.96B 117%
Commodity $7.33B $7.83B 94%
Digital Asset $4.08B $4.08B 100%
Currency $176.35M $111.3M 158%
Alternative $968.1M $1.06B 91%
Non-Traditional $50.06B $48.18B 104%
Multi-Asset $245.48M $244.88M 100%

Equity

Equity ETFs accounted for $164.62B in trading volume, operating at 101% of their 30-day average. Thematic and specialty strategies drove outlier activity. The Equity: Specialty – Long | Short category led with a remarkable 434% of its average volume ($656.3M), heavily influenced by IALT. Global Ex-U.S. Small/Mid Cap strategies also saw elevated engagement at 301% of ADV ($861.9M). Across individual tickers, systematic and factor-based U.S. Blend funds, such as QEFA (1863% of ADV) and BBEM (1441% of ADV), registered the most extreme volume anomalies.

High-Volume Categories

Category Activity vs ADV $ Volume 1-Day Return
Equity: Specialty – Long | Short 434% $656.29M +0.02%
Equity: Global Ex-U.S. Small | Mid Cap 301% $861.91M +0.21%
Equity: Thematic – Industrial Revolution 241% $1.45B -0.35%
Equity: Thematic – Health Innovation 182% $142.33M +0.10%
Equity: Thematic – Sustainability 180% $590.62M -0.31%

High-Activity Ticker Outliers

Ticker Name Activity vs ADV $ Volume 1D Return
QEFA State Street SPDR MSCI EAFE StrategicFactors ETF 1863% $52.4M +0.03%
BBEM JPMorgan BetaBuilders Emerging Markets Equity ETF 1441% $36.47M +0.12%
HEWJ iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Japan ETF 925% $59.29M +0.14%
JEMA JPMorgan ActiveBuilders Emerging Markets Equity ETF 907% $42.92M +0.07%
HFXI NYLI FTSE International Equity Currency Neutral ETF 791% $62.44M +0.00%
DVYE iShares Emerging Markets Dividend ETF 722% $28.05M -0.50%
PBUS Invesco MSCI USA ETF 690% $88.94M +0.19%
DIVB iShares Core Dividend ETF 637% $28.78M +1.49%
QLTY GMO US Quality ETF 616% $123.93M +0.17%
USPX Franklin U.S. Equity Index ETF 616% $27.36M +0.20%

Fixed Income

Fixed Income ETFs generated $32.7B in volume, trading at an elevated 117% of their 30-day average. The session was defined by substantial activity in the short end of the curve and international debt. Taxable – International USD strategies saw the highest relative engagement at 237% of ADV, driven heavily by IAGG. Taxable – Short-Term and Government Ultrashort categories commanded significant capital, turning over $1.7B and $6.3B, respectively. High Yield debt showed concentrated outlier activity, with BHYB trading at 2141% of its normal volume.

High-Volume Categories

Category Activity vs ADV $ Volume 1-Day Return
Fixed Income: Taxable – International USD 237% $1.12B +0.10%
Fixed Income: Taxable – Short-Term 188% $1.7B +0.03%
Fixed Income: Taxable – Government Ultrashort 153% $6.3B +0.02%
Fixed Income: Taxable – Ultrashort 150% $2.3B -0.07%
Fixed Income: Taxable – Core Enhanced 145% $1.16B +0.03%

High-Activity Ticker Outliers

Ticker Name Activity vs ADV $ Volume 1D Return
BHYB Xtrackers USD High Yield BB-B ex Financials ETF 2141% $151.84M +0.21%
BBAG JPMorgan BetaBuilders U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF 1051% $70.43M +0.19%
FLCB Franklin U.S Core Bond ETF 721% $47.79M +0.07%
BSJQ Invesco BulletShares 2026 High Yield Corp Bond ETF 693% $36.96M +0.07%
SMTH ALPS/SMITH Core Plus Bond ETF 480% $40.39M +0.10%
JPST JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income ETF 392% $1.13B +0.05%
IGSB iShares 1-5 Year Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF 366% $574.76M +0.11%
IAGG iShares Core International Aggregate Bond ETF 335% $445.58M +0.09%
VRP Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF 297% $71.0M -0.33%
IBHI iShares iBonds 2029 Term High Yield and Income ETF 284% $8.87M +0.04%

Commodity

Commodity ETFs experienced muted volume, trading $7.33B, which represented 94% of the 30-day average. The session lacked broad-based participation, though Multi-Sector Broad Market strategies saw a slight uptick. PIT and CMDY emerged as the sole tickers meeting outlier criteria within the asset class.

High-Volume Categories

No items met the inclusion criteria for this session.

High-Activity Ticker Outliers

Ticker Name Activity vs ADV $ Volume 1D Return
PIT VanEck Commodity Strategy ETF 293% $8.42M -0.55%
CMDY iShares Bloomberg Roll Select Commodity Strategy ETF 199% $8.7M -0.56%

Digital Asset

Digital Asset ETFs traded perfectly in line with their historical baseline, generating $4.08B in volume (100% of the 30-day average). The action was concentrated primarily in Bitcoin funds, which accounted for $3.44B of the total turnover. BRRR registered as the only significant volume outlier in the group.

High-Volume Categories

No items met the inclusion criteria for this session.

High-Activity Ticker Outliers

Ticker Name Activity vs ADV $ Volume 1D Return
BRRR Coinshares Bitcoin ETF 187% $7.59M +0.17%

Currency

Currency ETFs displayed anomalous strength relative to their baseline, trading at 158% of their 30-day average. Total volume printed at $176.35M. Both broad US Dollar bullish exposure (UUP) and Euro exposure (FXE) saw outsized engagement.

High-Volume Categories

Category Activity vs ADV $ Volume 1-Day Return
Currency 158% $176.35M +0.07%

High-Activity Ticker Outliers

Ticker Name Activity vs ADV $ Volume 1D Return
UUP Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund 223% $116.52M -0.13%
FXE Invesco CurrencyShares Euro Trust 204% $32.86M +0.19%

Alternative

Alternative strategies had a muted session, executing $968.1M in volume, or 91% of their 30-day average. Activity was spread thin across sub-categories, with Absolute Return – Managed Futures capturing slightly above-average attention (113% of ADV). KMLM was the only notable ticker to break the outlier threshold.

High-Volume Categories

No items met the inclusion criteria for this session.

High-Activity Ticker Outliers

Ticker Name Activity vs ADV $ Volume 1D Return
KMLM KraneShares Mount Lucas Managed Futures Index Strategy ETF 154% $11.63M -0.88%

Non-Traditional

Non-Traditional ETFs sustained strong momentum, posting $50.06B in volume, which equated to 104% of their 30-day average. Leverage | Inverse – Single Stock funds drove massive trading activity, capturing $18.53B at 126% of ADV. Tickers tracking PLTR (PTIR, PLTU) and ASTS (ASTX) dominated the outlier tape with high volatility and extreme volume spikes. Synthetic Income – Equity strategies also proved popular, managing $2.65B at 129% of ADV.

High-Volume Categories

Category Activity vs ADV $ Volume 1-Day Return
Non-Traditional: Synthetic Income – Equity 129% $2.65B +0.03%
Non-Traditional: Leverage | Inverse – Single Stock 126% $18.53B +1.69%

High-Activity Ticker Outliers

Ticker Name Activity vs ADV $ Volume 1D Return
PTIR GraniteShares 2x Long PLTR Daily ETF 443% $276.49M +18.21%
ASTX Tradr 2X Long ASTS Daily ETF 405% $843.56M -31.03%
PMAY Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF – May 402% $62.35M +0.11%
PLTU Direxion Daily PLTR Bull 2X ETF 331% $412.54M +18.42%
AIPI REX AI Equity Premium Income ETF 284% $16.94M +1.12%
JEPQ JPMorgan NASDAQ Equity Premium Income ETF 254% $982.03M +0.34%
ORCX Defiance Daily Target 2X Long ORCL ETF 242% $234.67M +21.40%
ROCQ JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Yield ETF 212% $21.87M +0.22%
PLTY YieldMax PLTR Option Income Strategy ETF 207% $17.16M +7.54%
MUU Direxion Daily MU Bull 2X ETF 203% $2.56B +9.06%

Multi-Asset

Multi-Asset ETFs recorded a balanced session with $245.48M in trading volume, exactly matching their 30-day average (100%). Target Risk portfolios formed the bulk of the activity, with Conservative Allocation funds like AOK experiencing a localized surge. Within the Specialty group, NTSX showed elevated interest among alternative allocation models.

High-Volume Categories

No items met the inclusion criteria for this session.

High-Activity Ticker Outliers

Ticker Name Activity vs ADV $ Volume 1D Return
AOK iShares Core 30/70 Conservative Allocation ETF 196% $16.0M +0.12%
NTSX WisdomTree U.S. Efficient Core Fund 153% $3.82M +0.22%

Disclaimer: This AI-assisted commentary is for informational purposes only. The “High-Volume Categories” table includes categories with over $100M in volume and activity at least 125% of their 30-day average, limited to the top 5 by activity percentage. The “High-Activity Ticker Outliers” table shows the top 10 ETFs from each asset class, sorted by the highest trading activity versus their 30-day average. All reported ETFs have AUM over $250M and an ADV greater than $2.5M.

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.