European investors pour nearly $1.0 billion into gold ETFs in July – FT

The Financial Times (FT) relies on the latest gold data from the industry body World Gold Council (WGC) to mark the recently increased European ETF interest in gold buying.

“European investors poured nearly $1billion into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest directly in gold in July, more than offsetting outflows from US funds and indicating the emergence of divergent views on inflation, the global economy and future direction of the precious metal,” said FT on early Wednesday.

Additional quotes (from FT)

European funds attracted net inflows of $999 million, equivalent to 17.1 tonnes of gold, while ETFs domiciled in North America, led by large US funds, saw net outflows of $402 million or 7.3 tonnes, according to the World Gold Council, an industry body.

Overall, WGC data showed a 0.3 percent rise in assets under management in gold ETFs in July, driven mostly by the buying in Europe, although Asia also recorded net inflows.

Only Asia showed positive inflows into physical gold ETFs, which invest directly in the metal, in the first half of this year.

Global gold ETF assets under management remain $6 billion down at the beginning of the year.

Market reaction

The overall increase in the gold ETF buying in July joins the latest slump in the gold prices to hint towards a pullback move. However, the US CPI data is the key to follow.

Read: Gold Price Forecast: XAU/USD trims intraday gains below $1,750 amid subdued session, US CPI eyed