With the S&P 500 trading slightly lower in August, notching its first negative performance on a monthly basis this year, gold exchange traded funds were boosted by the slight retreat by U.S. equities. Gold exchange traded products, including the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD), iShares Gold Trust (NYSEArca: IAU) and ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (NYSEArca: SGOL), each added more than 3% in August.
Gold rose more than 2% in July, posting its best monthly gain since February. Another possible catalyst for gold entering the back of the year is lingering debate surrounding how many times the Fed can raise rates this year – one more is what many traders are betting on, and in 2018, three seems to be the bet there. Importantly, more investors are being lured to gold.
“The metal should trade above that level in 2018 as the dollar weakens and the Fed sticks to just two rate hikes, in December 2017 and then March, according to Luc Luyet, a currency strategist at Pictet Wealth Management,” reports Bloomberg.
The ongoing political drama in the U.S. has also weighed on the U.S. dollar, which helped support the gold outlook. With traders remaining skeptical that this week’s Federal Reserve meeting would do much to alter the recent weakness, gold has maintained its recent strength.