Gold $3000: Profit-Taking Jumps on Latest ETF-Driven Highs
Tuesday, 3/18/2025 16:05
GOLD's latest Dollar-price record above $3000 on Tuesday saw physical bullion find strong demand but still stronger profit-taking on world-leading marketplace BullionVault, as coin and small-bar sales continued to struggle but gold-backed ETFs enjoyed strong inflows.
Having first breached
$3000 gold in spot-market trade Friday and then setting a new Shanghai record this morning at ¥700 per gram in China – the precious metal's No.1 mining, consumer and central-bank buying nation – the bullion price in London today fixed at its benchmarking auctions above $3000 per Troy ounce before leaping as high as $3039.
Gross demand for gold on BullionVault's 24/7 platform held firm with the past 12 months' daily average, but the volume of selling jumped 129.5% to outweigh buying 2.5 times over.
Reversing a little of
last month's net gold bullion inflows, the strongest since June 2023, that equalled net liquidation on Tuesday of $4.0 million against
total client gold holdings now worth a record $4.3 billion.
Over in gold-backed exchange-traded trust funds, the giant SPDR Gold product (NYSEArca: GLD) yesterday saw a small outflow.
But altogether, the 5 largest US-listed
gold ETFs have expanded by 1.6% so far this month, needing an additional 25.7 tonnes of bullion to back the number of shares in issue, reaching the largest size in 21 months.
Since the top five US-listed ETFs were last this large, gold bullion priced in the US Dollar has risen by 48.2%.
Europe's 5 largest gold ETPs have meantime expanded by 1.0% so far in March, needing an extra 7.4 tonnes to reach their largest combined size in 7 months.
"Inflows into gold exchange-traded funds have again accelerated in recent weeks," says Swiss bank and London bullion clearer UBS, "primarily driven by investors seeking defensive assets amid escalating uncertainties, ongoing central bank demand, and uncertainty over the Fed outlook."
Raising its analysts' 2025 gold price forecast from $3000 to $3200 per Troy ounce, "we reiterate our preference for the metal," says UBS, "and see any pullbacks as an opportunity to build fresh long positions."
US retail bar and coin sales, in contrast to ETFs, are struggling badly, with the US Mint selling barely half-a-tonne of gold product so far in March and less than 16 tonnes of silver Eagles, putting both on track for a near-60% drop from the past 10 years' monthly average.
Retail product demand in former bullion-market darling Germany had rallied say local dealers, with "a significant decline in investor selling" over the past 2 weeks according to one coin-and-small-bar retailer.
"Perhaps customers are waiting for a price increase and the optimal moment to sell," the retailer
told GoldReporter last Friday. "Or it could be due to geopolitical and economic decisions, especially in the US."
Tuesday's new Dollar-price records came as Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas, killing over 400 Palestinians in airstrikes on Gaza
immediately condemned by the United Nations' emergency relief coordinator, the government of Saudi Arabia, and the Israeli opposition but
"solely" the responsibility of Hamas according to US President Trump's acting ambassador to the UN.
Trump meantime spoke by phone to Moscow's President Putin to
discuss "dividing up certain assets" in Ukraine as part of 'ceasefire' talks proposed more than 3 years since Russia invaded its western neighbour.
Euro prices for London gold bullion today moved up withing 1.5% of mid-February's all-time benchmark high, trading close to €2780 per Troy ounce.
The
UK gold price in Pounds per ounce meantime rose within 0.5% of last month's peak, rising to £2340 as a fresh drop in New York's stock market cut Tuesday's earlier equity gains in London and European bourses.
Shanghai gold prices have now risen by 104.4% since the Covid pandemic began to go global 5 years ago.
That's almost exactly the same rise as London gold has made priced in Euros, gaining 101.7% in UK Pounds and 99.9% priced in the US Dollar.
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