Weakness in global markets and another round of trade worries reignited the safety trade with exchange traded funds tracking gold prices and the gold miners space rallying on Friday.
Among the best performing ETFs of Friday, the ETFMG Junior Silver Miners ETF (NYSEArca: SILJ) advanced 2.0%, VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDXJ) rose 1.8% and VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDX) gained 1.0%.
Meanwhile, the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) was up 0.4% as Comex gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,318.6 per ounce, and the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEArca: SLV) was 0.4% higher as Comex silver futures increased 0.6% to $15.8 per ounce.
Gold traders argue that growing concerns over global growth could provide support as a safety hedge against further volatility. President Donald Trump on Thursday fueled concerns when he announced he did not plan to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping before the March 1 deadline set for reaching an agreement.
Additionally, global growth fears reappeared after the European Union cut its economic growth outlook and the Bank of England warned that Britain could experience its weakest economic growth in a decade.