Gold spikes as a hedge
Gold bounced to about $4,618.44 per ounce on March 20 as investors bought safe havens amid Middle‑East tensions and a softer dollar — traders expect volatile sessions ahead ( ). The move reinforces gold’s role as an inflation/geopolitics hedge while real yields and oil remain key price drivers (cryptorank.io).
Global physically backed gold ETFs recorded a record US$18.7 billion of inflows in January and added another US$5.3 billion in February, lifting collective holdings to a record 4,171 tonnes and assets under management to about US$701 billion. (gold.org) The CFTC weekly Commitments of Traders showed managed‑money positions in COMEX gold futures were net long by roughly +97.9k contracts with total open interest near 409.8k in the March 3 report. (metalcharts.org) CBOE’s gold‑volatility index (GVZ) was around 29.4 on March 18 while the equity VIX sat near 25.1 in mid‑March, signalling elevated near‑term expected swings in precious‑metals markets. (en.macromicro.me) The market real yield on 10‑year TIPS stood at about 1.86% on March 19, a key nominal–real interest‑rate metric traders watch when weighing bullion versus yield‑bearing assets. (fred.stlouisfed.org) Energy and FX moves remain linked to bullion: Brent traded near US$107.16/barrel and WTI around US$94.4/barrel on March 20 after a recent month‑long surge, and the U.S. Dollar Index slipped below 100 to about 99.41 on the same date. (tradingeconomics.com) Bloomberg reported gold was set for its biggest weekly loss in six years, down roughly 7–8% this week amid the Middle‑East conflict and higher energy prices, while a Reuters poll put analysts’ 2026 average gold forecast near US$4,275 per ounce. (bloomberg.com)
