By Christine Idzelis
A popular gold ETF has attracted more than $1.3 billion of inflows in the past week as of April 10, FactSet data show
Gold has been on a tear this week, extending a recent run-up, with investors most recently flocking to it as a haven amid turbulent markets sparked by a global trade war over tariffs.
"During the last three days, gold is up over 8% and on pace for its largest three-day move since March 2020," Bespoke Investment Group said in a note Friday morning. "Before that, you would have to go back to the financial crisis to find the last time it rallied as much in three days."
Gold prices (GC00) finished Friday up 8.5% over the past three days, booking its largest three-day rally since March 25, 2020, according to Dow Jones Market Data. In March 2020, the Covid-19 crisis was wreaking havoc in markets.
"During periods of the most heightened volatility and uncertainty in markets, three areas where investors often flock are gold, the dollar, and U.S. Treasuries," said Bespoke. "This week, only one of those safe havens caught a bid," the firm wrote, pointing to the yellow metal.
The U.S. dollar DXY and Treasurys fell on Friday and saw weekly losses, according to FactSet data. By contrast, gold rallied this week.
"Gold may be catching a bid, but the dollar has floundered," said Bespoke. "If you were looking for bonds to provide some ballast in your portfolio this week, you didn't get it with Treasuries."
The U.S. bond market broadly slumped this week, with long-term Treasurys particularly hard hit as their yields jumped.
For example, shares of the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT finished Friday with a weekly loss of 6.4%, FactSet data show.
Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note BX:TMUBMUSD10Y surged 50 basis points this week to 4.492% on Friday, marking its biggest weekly jump since November 2001 based on 3 p.m. Eastern time levels, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Shares of the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF AGG, which provides broad exposure to the U.S. investment-grade bond market, slipped Friday to book a weekly loss of 2.4%.
Ultra short-term Treasurys held up, though. The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF SGOV edged higher Friday for a slight weekly rise of 0.1%, FactSet data show.
Read: Bonds slump but short-term Treasurys hold steady as tariffs heighten stagflation fears
Gold ETF attracts inflows
SPDR Gold Shares, a popular ETF that buys the yellow metal, rallied 1.9% Friday to notch a weekly gain of 6.5%.
The ETF GLD attracted more than $1.3 billion of inflows in the past week as of April 10, FactSet data show. The fund is up so far this month and has surged slightly more than 23% year to date.
Major U.S. stock indexes closed sharply higher Friday, with the S&P 500 SPX booking a 5.7% weekly gain that was largely driven by its massive bounce on Wednesday amid volatile markets.
The S&P 500 has lost 4.4% so far this month, after the White House's April 2 announcement on tariffs sparked carnage in U.S. stocks.
Check out: Top strategists say stock market still bogged down by tariff uncertainty despite Trump's pause
-Christine Idzelis
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