Gold and mining ETFs are surging as the precious metal flirts with a record high

Published Fri, Apr 7 20237:43 AM EDT

Jesse Pound @/in/jesse-pound @jesserpound

Gold has been a hot market in 2023, benefiting not only those hoarding old jewelry but also investors using modern financial tools such as exchange traded funds. A six-week-long advance has pushed the yellow metal above $2,000 an ounce, and within striking distance of $2,075, gold's all-time high from 2020. @GC.1 YTD mountain The price of gold has risen for six straight weeks. Technical patterns suggest gold can jump to the $2,400 area if it breaks through the current area of resistance, according to Bank of America. "Beyond the technicals, low rates expectations, lower USD, and 'risk off' sentiment will drive gold outperformance in the long term," Bank of America investment and ETF strategist Jared Woodard said in a note to clients on April 4. The run-up in gold is also reflected in ETFs that track the space, in both performance and investor interest. Over the past month, the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) has pulled in more than $1 billion of new money, according to FactSet. The fund has also gained nearly 10% year to date. Smaller gold funds are also seeing traction. The iShares Gold Trust (IAU) , SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust (GLDM) , Abrdn Physical Gold Shares ETF (SGOL) and Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF (AAAU) have pulled in more than $400 million combined. Funds comprised of gold mining stocks have also been popular, with the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) pulling in about $200 million. The fund has surged about 20% so far this year. GDX YTD mountain Gold mining ETFs are rallying in 2023. The gold mining funds from Sprott ( SGDM ) and iShares ( RING ) have seen similarly strong performance. This year stands in contrast to 2022, when ETF investors were net sellers of gold, according to Robert Minter, director of investment strategy at Abrdn. However, that was more than offset by global central banks, which purchased more than 1,100 tons, according to the World Gold Council . Minter said that some central banks were looking at gold in order to reduce their reliance on the dollar, though he said there were "significant hurdles" to the dollar losing its reserve currency status anytime soon. In Abdrn's view, "it's not about an end game. It's more that these other countries really want to diversify their [sovereign] holdings, just like any rational portfolio manager," Minter said. — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.