Asia open: Got Gold?

Gold’s relentless climb: The market’s safe-haven compass in a world of fractured signals

The market this week has been a masterclass in contradiction. Just days ago, the bond pits were awash with bearish bets, traders arming themselves for the “big one” as long-term US yields crept higher, the 30-year JGB lit up warning flares, and whispers of Fed capture and Lisa Cook’s political misfortune swirled around desks. Then came the JOLTS miss. One weak labor print was enough to knock the stuffing out of yields across the Treasury curve, flattening spreads and triggering an overnight repricing that now has September cuts virtually in the bag and at least two more penciled in for 2025. It’s the old rhythm of markets: conviction built on one narrative until data kicks the stool out, and everyone scrambles to reset positioning ahead of the bigger test—nonfarm payrolls.

The dollar, naturally, buckled under the weight of weaker jobs and lower rates, and increased Fed cut bets, handing Asia an early boost. When the U.S. dollar slides, Asian assets instantly look more attractive in currency-adjusted terms, and regional equities should snap to life after a sluggish start to September. But the more explosive story—once again—is gold.

Gold has stopped being a sideshow and is now the lead act in the macro theater. Spot north of $3,550, ETFs seeing inflows on par with the biggest days of 2023, and RSI levels screaming overbought—but “overbought” is a flimsy shield in the face of structural flows. We’ve seen this movie before: options desks drowning in short gamma, dealers forced to chase the tape higher, and every $50 increment on the way up becoming a pressure point that forces another round of option dealer buying/hedging. The script is nearly mechanical: pain trade resumes at $3,600 and $3650, and if the squeeze intensifies, delta-hedgers pour more kerosene onto an already roaring fire.

And yet this isn’t just about positioning mechanics. The backdrop is fuel enough: central banks are openly diversifying away from the dollar, surveys show nearly half of monetary authorities intend to increase reserves, and retail investors are piling in to supplement institutional demand. The U.S. fiscal picture is worsening, Trump’s heavy hand over the Fed is drawing concern about institutional independence, and inflation remains sticky enough that no one can declare victory. Layer on geopolitical risk—the uneasy U.S.–China truce, tariff noise, late-cycle U.S. growth—and you have the full recipe for gold to stay front and center.

And we are entering precisely that seasonal sweet spot. Structural supply constraints mean even marginal allocation shifts—say, a few basis points of the $57 trillion parked in U.S. assets—could be seismic for price action. If the bond market is the elephant in the room, the 30-year JGB charging through resistance, then gold is the compass traders are clinging to in the fog.

So yes, gold is stretched, but stretched markets often defy gravity longer than logic suggests. This is not simply a momentum chase—it’s the expression of a deeper fracture in the macro order: weakening labor, politicized central banks, ballooning deficits, and fragile geopolitics. That cocktail keeps the bid under bullion, and it explains why every dip gets bought, every ETF inflow adds weight, and why the “overbought” chatter rings hollow.

Got GLD? The tape suggests plenty of people do—and plenty more want in.