Gold bullion and commodity-related exchange traded funds surged to a 15-month high Friday on a depreciating U.S. dollar, along with rising risk-off sentiment with a equity market pullback.
The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD), iShares Gold Trust (NYSEArca: IAU) and ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (NYSEArca: SGOL) rose 1.8% Friday as Comex gold futures gained 1.9% to $1,291 per ounce, their highest level since January 2015. Gold has been among the best performing assets this year, with three related ETFs increasing about 19.5% year-to-date.
Meanwhile, gold miners were outperforming on the continued rally in bullion. on Friday, the Global X Gold Explorers ETF (NYSEArca: GLDX) gained 6.8%, iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners Fund (NYSEArca: RING) rose 5.0% and Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDX) advanced 4.8%.
Gold prices were strengthening on the weaker USD – a cheaper dollar makes gold more attractive to foreign investors and helps support the hard asset as a more stable store of wealth.
The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback against a group of developed market currencies, dipped 0.6% to 93.2 on Friday.