Which US presidential candidate does gold prefer?
Gold loves chaos and should be hitting new highs, especially with inflation coming down and with it, two rate cuts likely before year’s end.
A Bloomberg index that tracks the total amount of tonnes held by gold ETFs on a daily basis reached a record high of 2,632 in December from a standing start in 2003.
Since then the mood has seriously soured with net outflows totaling more than 140 tonnes since the start of the year.
February was the worst month on record for outflows with over $4 billion leaving the funds, but the selling hasn’t stopped.
“It has been 25 trading sessions since we have seen a day of net buying of gold ETFs. That was February 7th,” investment bank Macquarie points out in its daily market commentary.
Since the first fund was launched in Australia a decade ago, retail buying of gold ETFs has been a massive boon for the gold price, helping to maintain the metal’s unbroken 12 years of gains.
Sometimes called ‘the people’s central bank’, gold holdings in ETFs are still only topped by that of the US Federal Reserve and the Bundesbank.
Spot gold was last trading at $1,590 an ounce in New York, down more than 5% since the start of the year.
During previous downturns in the gold price, investors continued to snap up ETFs, but this time around outflows are tracking the sliding price.
