FRANKFURT (DEUTSCHE-BOERSE AG) - The escalation in the Middle East has triggered a wave of selling on the stock market. However, ETF traders report no panic. They are seeing both buying and selling. Oil and gas price trackers are clearly topping shopping lists.
March 3, 2026. FRANKFURT (Deutsche Börse). The slide on the stock exchanges continued on Tuesday morning. Fears of an energy crisis have pushed the DAX below the 24,000-point mark. There is also a lot of activity in ETF trading. "There is a great deal of excitement," reports Ivo Orlemann from ICF Bank. Oil and gas ETCs in particular are being traded heavily, often with leverage. "Overall, however, we are not seeing any selling pressure." Janis Völker from Lang & Schwarz also says there is no "panic atmosphere." "Clients are reacting very differently; the flow goes in both directions."
The price of Brent crude oil (XC0009677409) has climbed above 82 US dollars due to the US and Israeli attack on Iran. The price of European natural gas has even reached its highest level in over three years because of the supply halt from Qatar. A focus at ICF is now the WisdomTree WTI Crude Oil 3x Daily Leveraged ( < IE00BMTM6B3>), whose price has risen sharply. Orlemann also sees "large orders" in the natural gas counterpart, the WisdomTree Natural Gas 3x Daily Leveraged (XS2819843900). Classic price trackers like the WisdomTree Brent Crude Oil-ETC (JE00B78CGV99) are also popular. At Lang & Schwarz, oil and gas ETCs, especially those with leverage, are also seeing a lot of activity.
Things are much calmer, according to Orlemann, for gold and silver price ETCs. "Volumes are still high, though," he adds, referring to the Invesco Physical Gold (IE00B579F325) and the WisdomTree Physical Silver (JE00B1VS3333).
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What to do in a stock market crash?
When stock markets plunge, many investors become extremely nervous. "Don't let yourself be unsettled now," advises Thomas Brummer from the ETF platform extraETF. Geopolitical conflicts create short-term volatility. But in the medium to long term, such slumps are barely visible on the chart. According to Brummer, the greatest damage to portfolios usually does not come from the event itself, but from three typical mistakes: panic selling out of fear of losses, market timing ("I'll exit now and re-enter later"), and recency bias, i.e., projecting current events into the future. Instead of frantically rearranging, it's sensible to honestly review one's risk tolerance.
"High volatility, high turnover"
Equity ETFs are also being traded actively. "High volatility, high turnover," summarizes Völker. He sees both buying and selling. "There is also a lot of activity in emerging markets and Asia ETFs," he adds. At ICF, a dividend ETF is once again the turnover leader: the VanEck Morningstar Developed Markets Dividend Leaders (NL0011683594).
In the previous week, buying had still predominated. "With slightly increased volumes, we had about 30 percent more purchases than sales," reports Holger Heinrich from Baader Bank. On the US equity side, a Nasdaq and an S&P 500 tracker stood out on the buy side, specifically the Amundi Core Nasdaq 100 Swap (LU1829221024) and the UBS Core S&P 500 (IE00BD34DK07). The iShares MSCI USA SRI (IE00BYVJRR92) and the State Street SPDR S&P 500 Quality Aristocrats (IE000FJJZA01) were reduced. In the area of World ETFs, according to Heinrich, two UBS MSCI World ETFs with sustainability filters were notable on the buy side (IE00BN4Q0370, IE000TB15RC6).
"In Europe, broadly diversified strategies were dominated by purchases," Heinrich also explains. Examples: the Invesco Euro Stoxx 50 (IE00B60SWX25) and the BNP Paribas Easy MSCI Europe SRI PAB (LU1753045332). Sales mainly affected value and large-cap strategies, such as the UBS MSCI EMU Value (LU0950669845) and the iShares MSCI EMU Large Cap (IE00BCLWRF22).
Defense ETFs benefit again
In sector ETF trading, defense trackers remain popular. "Demand has probably increased further following the attack on Iran," notes Orlemann. Particularly in demand: the WisdomTree Europe Defence (IE0002Y8CX98) and the VanEck Defense (IE000YYE6WK5). The largest defense ETF, the VanEck Defense, with over 7 billion euros in assets under management, has recently seen further price gains. However, it has not yet reached its all-time high from January.
By Anna-Maria Borse, March 3, 2026, © Deutsche Börse AG
(Deutsche Börse AG is solely responsible for the content of this column. The articles do not constitute a solicitation to buy or sell securities or other assets.)
