TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The latest data from the World Gold Council (WGC) shows that gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have lost 5.1 t of yellow metal during February, but in total added 25.3 t during the first two months of the year.
The inflow over the two-month period was mainly boosted by a 10% increase by Asian funds, while European-listed funds had outflows, with both regions reversing their 2017 trends. Elsewhere, iShares Gold Trust accounted for 47% of global net inflows.
Global gold-backed ETFs collectively held 2 393.4 t, or about $101.4-billion at the end of February, following the February outflow. Flows were negative as the price of gold decreased and its volatility increased. This was reflected by higher trading volumes globally in ETFs and futures.
Global inflows were dominated by Asian-listed funds which added 7.9 t, valued at about $318-million, and adding about 8.3% to their assets under management during February. Flows across the rest of the globe were negative. European funds, lost 7.3 t valued at $240.6-million, while North American-listed funds had outflows of 5.1 t, valued at $196-million.
Funds in other regions had marginal outflows of 700 000 kg, valued at about $28-million, the WGC advised.