There was a hurry to be gold on Wall Street, and investors poured into precious metals at an unprecedented rate. Last week’s gold exchange trade funds hit record inflows last week – worth about $4.5 billion, led by the SPDR Gold Stock ETF (GLD), with about half of the inflows occurring in a stock market sell-off on Friday, according to JPMorgan’s recent JPMorgan Data. These moves are driven by trade uncertainty and inflationary issues, as gold prices were at all-time highs in early 2025. The Trump administration imposed tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico earlier this month, and then quickly paused them for a 30-day moratorium. The White House also imposed a levy on Chinese goods. Last week, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment report showed inflation expectations sharply increased in the coming year. “Gold is basically thriving in uncertainty, and we already have a lot of things,” said George Milling-Stanley, chief gold strategist at State Street Global Consultant, the founder of GLD is the first ETF to track precious metals. “I think most of the actions over the past week or so are very spectacular, which is caused by increasing attention to the U.S. economic outlook.” Gold futures grew more than 10% that year and set a record, which brought the S&P 500 to a 2% advance payment at the time. On Wednesday, they traded about $2,920 per ounce. GLD also grew by about 10% in 2025. He added that hedge funds and individual investors showed growing interest in GLD, noting that “FOMO” or concerns about missing out could be the action that drives individuals to snap up gold shares. Gold’s recent Highs “suggests that adventure may be becoming a new flavor of the month,” Milling-Stanley added. If this risk aversion sentiment continues, strategists expect precious metals to continue to increase in value. According to the World Gold Council, this year’s gold rally has continued after the global demand for precious metals reached record highs in 2024 by central banks, according to the World Gold Council. Jurrien Timmer, global macro director at Fidelity Investments, said the gold rush provides competitive growth for more volatile assets such as U.S. stocks and bonds. “For the past few years, gold has been the winner of the past few years, staying the same and even beating stocks. It’s a huge win for an asset that often regrets not providing cash flow,” Timmer told CNBC, noting that gold has almost the same rate of return since 2020, while having a lower momentum. He added that since 1970, the value of gold has also increased the value of bonds. “Gold usually doesn’t work, but when bonds are damaged, it’s often when bonds are damaged. For me, that’s what gold does: a hedge to the bond.” Looking ahead, although more limited, may be further ahead. Milling-Stanley noted that gold reached $2,000 per ounce a year ago, and about five years later, assets lost $1,000 in resistance levels. “Let’s not quickly breaking over elevated resistance at $3,000,” he said. “I believe it will happen. I just don’t know when it will happen.” To be sure, moves above the $3,000 mark may trigger more flows into ETFs like GLD.
Traders poured into gold ETFs at record rate as trade and inflation concerns | Real Time Headlines
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