Top Gold ETF Sees Biggest Outflow in 3 Years

(Bloomberg) -- Gold exchange-traded fund investors are selling off holdings as a more positive global outlook decreases their interest in haven assets.

On Friday, $620.7 million was withdrawn from State Street’s SPDR Gold Shares, the most since October 2016. The fund is the largest ETF backed by physical gold.

“It’s pretty directly related to the risk-on rally that we’ve seen in the market,” David Mazza, head of ETF product at Direxion Investments, said by phone Monday. “People who were hanging on to gold for protection took some of that off the table and seemingly have now moved back into risky assets for the time being.”

The price of the metal has declined more than 6% since reaching a six-year high in September amid a raft of positive news that has increased investors’ appetite for riskier assets. Often-volatile trade negotiations between the U.S. and China made some progress last week, reducing concerns for the global economy.

Meanwhile, chances of an imminent U.S. recession inched down in the past month, according to Bloomberg Economics.

Morgan Stanley analysts said a rollback in the tariffs imposed by the U.S. and China against each other could see gold prices fall toward their bear case forecast of $1,394 an ounce in the first half of 2020. Still, a continued fall could bring some buyers back to the market, lending “some support to metal prices,” analysts including Marius van Straaten and Susan Bates said in a note to clients Monday.

On Monday, spot gold closed 0.2% lower at $1,455.86 an ounce at 5 p.m. in New York, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. On the Comex in New York, gold futures for December delivery settled 0.4% lower. Spot silver rose, while platinum and palladium fell.

To contact the reporter on this story: Justina Vasquez in New York at jvasquez57@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Luzi Ann Javier at ljavier@bloomberg.net, Steven Frank

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