Gold ETF holdings dropped by 2.9% in November!

Gold price moves worst monthly move & dipped 7.4% in November 

Highlights Focus:

1: Gold ETFs have added nearly 50% more 

Assets in 2020 (913t) than the 2009 record of 646t

2: SPDR Gold Shares led global outflows

Losing US$3.7bn or nearly 5% of its assets

3: Strong outflows across all regions

World Gold Council (WGC) published gold-backed ETFs and similar products report for the month of November 2020. In November, gold-backed ETFs and similar products (gold ETFs) recorded their first net outflows in twelve months and second largest monthly outflows ever. 

Gold ETF holdings decreased by 107 tonnes (t) during the month – US$6.8bn or 2.9% of assets under management (AUM) – as the gold price had its worst monthly move (-6.3%, US$1,763/oz) since November 2016, when it dipped 7.4%. Despite lacklustre performance this month, net inflows of 916t (US$50.3bn) in 2020 remain well above the highest yearly amount on record, although below the record set last month (+1,022t). Total global holdings are now at 3,793t or US$215bn. 

Monthly regional overview remained a positive equity-market sentiment and a risk-on environment drove gold ETF outflows across all regions during November. Both North American and European funds each lost nearly 3% of assets (North America: -62t US$3.7bn; Europe: -43t, US$2.9bn). 

Asian funds had outflows of 0.4t (US$35mn, 0.5%), while funds listed in other regions had another month of outflows, relative to their size, of 2.0t (US$126mn, 3.3%). Higher trading volumes and increased bearish positioning in the options space. In November, daily gold volumes increased, returning to just above the y-t-d averages, trading US$190bn a day.  

Despite gold’s weak performance, net long positioning – via the recent Commitment of Traders (COT) report for gold COMEX futures – showed minimal reductions at 746t (US$42bn)3, slightly below the 766t level in October. Net longs are well below the 2020 average but still above the long-term average.

Notably, implied volatility, or the expected future price movement of gold, did not increase meaningfully, despite gold’s sell-off. However, put/call skew increased to one-year highs and call skew decreased to one-year lows. 

This suggests that while investors may not anticipate large absolute moves in the gold price, they are positioning much more for downside exposure than for upside exposure.

“Global uncertainties remain as gold demand trends continue…” say WGC. Two major market risks – the US election and the pandemic - appear to have subsided given a relatively smooth and bi-partisan outcome of the US election and the announcement of successful Covid vaccines.

 

This drove risky assets like stocks to all-time highs in some countries, and the MSCI World Stock index had its best monthly performance ever, highlighting the global impact of both developments. As these two risks subsided, investors reduced hedges, and this was reflected in the gold ETF outflows, higher bond yields, and stock market put/call ratios at extremely bullish levels. 

While one of the drivers of gold demand is diversification in times of market stress, in such circumstances other drivers may come into play and influence pricing. Although our Q3 Gold Demand Trends highlighted a common 2020 theme – that a weaker global economy negatively impacted consumer demand for jewellery and technology – our recent data suggests that the improving Chinese economy and the festival season in India may have spurred consumer demand. 

Central banks resumed net gold buying in October having been quarterly net sellers in Q3 for the first time in ten years, finally, as we have discussed frequently, the low-universe and adjust the list of funds and holdings based on newly available data and information.

Net longs represent Money Manager and Other Net long positioning in the COMEX futures market. Rate environment that improves gold’s opportunity cost is likely to remain, especially as many countries start to inject additional stimuli into their economies. 

By focussing on Long-term trends WGC observes, 1: Despite record-setting inflows in 2020, inflows slowed in recent months and turned negative for the first time in a year, 2: Investment demand for gold via ETFs remains strong & 3: North American funds represent nearly two-thirds of global net inflows on the year.