Precious metals-related exchange traded funds were leading the charge on Monday, with gold prices touching their highest level in six weeks as investors looked to the record rally in the equity markets and considered hedging against a potential turn.
Among the best performing non-leveraged ETFs of Monday, the ETFMG Junior Silver Miners ETF (NYSEArca: SILJ) advanced 5.9%, VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDXJ) increased 3.5%, Global X Silvers Miners ETF (NYSEArca: SIL) rose 3.9% and VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDX) gained 2.9%.
Meanwhile, the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) was 0.2% higher and the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) was up 1.5% as Comex gold futures pushed 0.5% higher to $1,488.9 per ounce and Comex silver futures increased 1.5% to $17.5 per ounce.
“The fact that investors are still holding a decent chunk of gold gives you a good feeling as to how they are literally hedging their bets,” Altaf Kassam, head of investment strategy for State Street Global Advisors in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told the Wall Street Journal. “Gold is definitely not looking like a bad place to store some value or have a hedge.”
Gold keeps gaining ground
Gold prices have kept gaining ground in recent weeks despite healthy economic data and President Donald Trump’s provisional trade deal with China, which helped assuage market fears of a recession or a global economic slowdown and have pushed U.S. stocks to a series of all-time highs.
Consequently, some observers argued that gold’s resilience showed that the limited trade pact has not completely dispelled concerns about the outlook for global growth.
“Worries about the state of geopolitics and the world in general haven’t really gone away completely,” Rhona O’Connell, head of market analysis for EMEA and Asia at INTL FCStone, told the WSJ. “There is still some concern about the fact the deal is yet to be signed.”
O’Connell also argued that gold prices are unlikely to fall significantly over the short term since more speculative investors have already exited the market, leaving a “bedrock” of fund managers who intend to own gold for a longer period.
“The market is happily long,” David Govett, head of precious metals at London-based brokerage Marex Spectron, told the WSJ. “The market is happily long.”
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