Gold ETFs posted fifth straight month of inflows in September, says WGC By Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) – Global physical-backed gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) posted a fifth straight month of inflows in September as North American-listed funds added to their holdings, it said on Tuesday World Gold Council (WGC).

Gold ETFs store bullion for investors and represent a significant amount of investment demand for the precious metal, which hit a record high of $2,685.42 an ounce on September 26, supported by the start of interest rate cuts in the US.

After three consecutive years of outflows amid high interest rates, the past five months have turned year-to-date net dollar flows to a positive $389 million.

Gold ETFs saw inflows of 18.4 metric tonnes, or $1.4 billion, in September to lift collective holdings to 3,200 tonnes, WGC said in a research note.

A stronger gold price and recent flows pushed total assets under management to a month-end peak of $270.9 billion in September.

The WGC, the industry body that brings together gold miners worldwide, estimates that global gold trading volumes in September rose 7% month-on-month to $259 billion a day, while average volumes of trading on the over-the-counter (OTC) market increased by 10% to 176 billion dollars.

With the price of gold up 28% this year and the prospect of future US interest rate cuts, speculators increased their total net long position on the COMEX by 6% since August to 976 tonnes by the end of September, the most high level since February 2020.