Some Wednesday weakness in global equities steered investors toward safer plays, lifting gold prices, along with related exchange traded funds, from a one-month low.
The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) was up 0.3% Wednesday. GLD is down 24.4% year-to-date.
COMEX gold futures rose 0.1% Wednesday, trading around $1,272.6 per ounce after falling 3.5% in the previous four sessions.
“The weakness in equities is bringing some people to gold,” David Meger, the director of metal trading at Vision Financial Markets, said in a Bloomberg article. “The price drop has improved physical demand.”
The MSCI All-Country World Index dipped as much as 0.7% Wednesday. Meanwhile, gold demand increased “marginally” overnight in China, the second largest consumer of gold.
Gold prices are heading for their first annual decline since 2000 after investors shunned safe-haven assets in favor of jumping on the rally in equities.
Additionally, Fed monetary policy changes have dampened gold expectations. [Gold ETFs Brush Off Central Bank Policies]