Investors who put more than $3 billion into gold exchange traded funds in November have been blindsided by the meltdown in precious metals this month.
Gold lost about $90 an ounce on Wednesday and fell below its 200-day moving average, where it hasn’t been since 2009. The precious metal also crashed through $1,600 an ounce after ETF bullion holdings rose to a record high last month. [Gold ETFs Haul in Cash in November]
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that gold exchange traded products held about $116 billion worth of bullion. Gold ETF investors are perceived to have a long-term outlook so they’re not expected to pull out at the first sign of trouble, according to the report.
Despite the big November inflows to gold ETF, some analysts say flows have moderated over the past three years, suggesting concerns that gold may be overvalued, the Financial Times reported.
“Unlike previous periods of risk aversion that occurred in 2009 and 2010, this time US dollar strength is not being accompanied by strong inflows into physically backed gold ETFs,” said Michael Lewis, commodity strategist at Deutsche Bank, in the FT report.