Gold Holds Near Record After Surge in Exchange-Traded Funds

Gold held close to a record following a surge in holdings of exchange-traded funds backed by the precious metal, Bloomberg reported.

Bullion traded around $2,940 an ounce on Monday, just shy of a fresh peak reached on Thursday. Prices have risen for the past eight weeks, the longest streak since 2020. Gold-backed ETFs saw the biggest net inflows since 2022 last week.

Mounting concerns over US President Donald Trump’s disruptive trade and geopolitical agendas are driving demand for gold as a haven asset. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. last week raised its year-end target for the metal to $3,100, saying that central-bank buying would be a key driver, as well as expanding ETFs.

The US dollar dropped early on Monday, before paring losses, after reports on Friday showed US business activity slowed and consumer confidence waned, while expectations for inflation surged. Swaps markets priced in more rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, with traders expecting a first reduction for 2025 in July, rather than September. A weaker dollar and lower borrowing costs typically benefit gold.

Data this week includes the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric on Friday, which is expected to cool to the slowest pace since June. However, glacial progress on taming price pressures overall will keep policymakers cautious about lowering rates further.

Spot gold was little changed at $2,936.21 an ounce as of 10:51 a.m. in London. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was down little changed, after three weeks of losses. Silver rose, while platinum and palladium declined.