As the Brexit referendum results triggered a global risk-off event, exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track safe-haven plays surged on the increased volatility.
For instance, gold jumped the most since the 2008 financial downturn as traders turned to the Brexit haven, Bloomberg reports.
Gold futures jumped as much as 8.1% on three times the average daily volume in the immediate aftermath of the vote results. Comex gold futures, though, were up 4.7% to $1,322 per ounce late Friday.
The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD), iShares Gold Trust (NYSEArca: IAU) and ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (NYSEArca: SGOL) all gained close to 5% Friday.
Related: Safe-Haven ETFs for a Rocky Summer
“We’re still seeing strong volumes across the precious metals space, which should be expected based on risk-off positioning by investors,” Maxwell Gold, a director of investment strategy at ETF Securities, told Bloomberg.
The bounce in gold is also lifting gold miners the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDX) and the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDXJ), the two largest gold miners ETFs, up 6.5% and 5.8%, respectively. Additionally, more aggressive traders capitalized off the surge with the Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X Shares (NYSEArca: NUGT) and the Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bull 3X Shares (NYSEArca: JNUG), which rose 19.3% and 16.9%, respectively.
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