ETFs cash in on glowing gold prospects
With gold prices reaching a new 27-year high, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have continued to make ground and attract more and more investors.
With gold for immediate delivery soaring above $760 per ounce, the passively managed ETFs have rapidly increased their takers in recent weeks.
ETFs are in fact reported to have attracted 2.7 million ounces of gold investment over the past five weeks, with the September gold price-driven boom accounting for half of the overall increase in ETF gold investment for the year.
David Hall, an analyst at the brokerage in Johannesburg, told Bloomberg: "The ETFs are actually driving the gold price because there's so much money going into ETFs."
"If oil goes up, then you often see the gold price go up,'' he added, indicating the knock on effect of spot gold prices on ETF investment.
ETFs are intended to track the progress of bullion prices, with the asset-based funds a relative newcomer on the gold market.