In the March in review of Global physically backed gold ETFs for World Gold Council (WGC) said, Outflows from global gold ETFs continued in March, but at a much slower pace than previous months as North American and Asian inflows cushioned European losses.
WGC witnessed their tenth consecutive monthly outflow in March, losing US$823mn. But by comparison this is far less than February outflows (-US$2.9bn) and the average of the past nine months (-US$2.4bn). Collective holdings fell by 14t to 3,112t by the end of March, the lowest since February 2020 and 21% lower than the month-end record of 3,915t in October 2020.
However, helped by a jump in the gold price, total assets under management (AUM) rose to US$222bn, an 8% increase during the month, the highest in 21 months. All regions except Europe saw inflows in March. Flows in North America flipped back to positive for the first time in 2024. Asia and the other region also capped inflows. But these were offset by European losses.
Trading activities across global gold markets increased in March, averaging US$226mn per day, 53% higher m/m. The over-the-counter (OTC) market volume rose by 28% to US$124bn/day, and trading activities in London and Shanghai both rose significantly in value and tonnage terms. Volumes jumped at all major exchanges (+103% m/m), led by the COMEX (+96%) and the Shanghai Future Exchange (+133%).
And turnovers in tonnage terms also surged as the gold price rally grabbed the attention of tactical traders. While global gold ETFs continued to see outflows, trading volumes improved notably (+39%) in the month.
Total net longs at COMEX surged to 679t as of March, a 232t m/m increase – the largest in 12 months. Money manager net longs rose by 278t to 491t by the end of the month, the highest month-end level since February 2022. This was driven by a jump in longs and a plunge in shorts as the gold price surge pushed investors to take part in the action.
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