Investments in physically-backed gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) turned negative last week, after rising for two consecutive weeks, data from the World Gold Council (WGC) showed.
For every $1 that was invested, there were more than double the exits during the week, with North American investors leading the trend.
The WGC data showed that investments in gold ETFs in the past week were to the tune of $1.21 billion, while investors took out $2.65 billion.
According to experts, the negative investment in gold ETFs was primarily driven by investors being caught between geopolitical support and strong macroeconomic headwinds in the US.
North Americans exit
Investors in North America chose to quit, with the outflows being $2.11 billion. Europe ($0.56 billion) and Asia (0.90 billion) witnessed inflows in gold ETFs.
Country-wise, investors in the US chose to book profits valued at $2.23 billion. The UK topped with inflows into the ETFs at $0.34 billion, while Germany ($0.13 billion), Canada (0.12 billion) and China (0.08 billion) witnessed inflows. Details for India were unavailable.
Year-to-date, ETF inflows were $18.84 billion, down from $20.28 billion in the previous week. Overall investments as of April 27 were $64.08 billion, while outflows were $43.81 billion.
Asians stay positive
This has been possible primarily due to Asians being positive about gold ETFs. Net investments by Asians are up at $15.02 billion compared with $14.92 billion a week ago. Europe is another continent where inflows are positive at $3.49 billion. However, there were outflows to the tune of $0.05 billion in North America, a huge drop from $2.06 billion net inflows a week ago.
India and China continue to top in ETFs’ inflows at $3.26 billion and $9.12 billion respectively. In the US, France and Germany, net investments turned negative at $0.39 billion, $0.027 billion and $0.005 billion respectively.
The UK, Switzerland and Japan are other countries where ETF investments have been net positive at $1.8 billion, $2.02 billion and $1.26 billion respectively.
The trend in gold ETFs has been in sync with the drop in gold prices from the record high of $5,608 an ounce on January 29. Since then, the yellow metal has declined by over 15 per cent.
Investors’ fears
Currently, gold is ruling at $4,699.50 an ounce. On COMEX, gold June futures are quoted at $4,713.56. In India, spot gold in Mumbai ended at ₹1,51,186 per 10 g against ₹1,51,479 during the weekend. On MCX, gold June contracts ruled at ₹1.52,033 per 10 g.
Gold prices more than doubled in their sparkling run from 2024 due to geopolitical crisis, tariff war between the US and other nations, and hopes of a cut in central bank interest rates.
However, after the Iran war, investors have chosen to exit on rising dollar, yield rates and fears of banks raising interest rates to tackle inflation. A surge in crude oil prices has led to investors exiting the yellow metal and investing in the fossil fuel counters.
Published on April 27, 2026