Shares in the fund represent about one-tenth of an ounce held by the custodian, HSBC Holdings PLC, in its London vault, or in the vaults of subcustodians.
The fund has become attractive for investors to own, as it makes it easy to invest in gold without having to hold the physical commodity itself and paying for the cost of insuring and storing it.
GLD isn’t the only gold ETF, but it’s by far the largest. The two other funds are iShares COMEX Gold Trust (IAU) and PowerShares DB Gold (DGL). IAU holds physical gold, as well, while DGL tracks an index of gold futures contracts. IAU is down 0.3% year-to-date, while DGL is down 1.9%.
Platinum prices are at three-year lows, at $936.50 an ounce. The price has declined more than 50% since hitting a record high of $2,290 in March, reports Pratima Desai for Reuters.