(Kitco News) - Aside from the gold market witnessing a bullish start to the year, gold ETFs are also doing something worth paying close attention to.
This past week, SPDR GLD (NYSE: GLD) – the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund – witnessed its longest positive streak on record after rising for eleven consecutive days before registering a decline on Wednesday.
SPDR GLD last stood at $125.31, down 0.12% on the day.
Geopolitical tensions related to North Korea and Iran were partly responsible for the current rally, according to Matt Maley, equity strategist at Miller Tabak.
But another significant factor was expectations surrounding the U.S. inflation.
“For the first time in a very long time, the expectation that inflation will become more pronounced in 2018 is also giving gold a bid,” Maley wrote in a CNBC post.
Maley cautioned readers that gold is looking “overbought,” but noted that “if gold and the GLD can break above their 2017 highs of $1,350 and $128, respectively, it would give them both a bullish ‘higher high’.”
Maley is not the only one to praise GLD’s recent activity. Boris Mikanikrezai, precious metals analyst at FastMarkets wrote in his recent blog post that 2018 is “set to be juicy,” adding that his “long GLD position is moving” and to “expect further strength in course of 2018.”
In the meantime, the gold miners ETFs are also looking positive, ETF Trends said in a post.
For example, the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX), the largest exchange-traded fund dedicated to gold mining stocks, was up more than 11% in 2017 and the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ) rose more than 8%.
“The bulk of the gains for GDX and GDXJ arrived in the fourth quarter, perhaps signaling that investors are comfortable betting the major gold miners funds will start 2018 on strong notes,” wrote Tom Lydon, president of Global Trends Investments and editor of ETFtrends.com.
By Anna GolubovaFor Kitco News
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