Exchange traded fund concept. A bull and bear besides the golden text ETF. istock photo for BL
| Photo Credit:
aprott
Inflows into physically-backed gold exchange-traded funds retumed in the second week of February, after investors booked profits in the first week. However, inflows were lower than outflows.
According to data from the World Gold Council (WGC), assets under management (AUM) decreased to $655 billion in the week ending February 6, compared with $668.7 billion. However, it increased to $664.2 billion in the week ending February 13. While investors encashed $3.87 billion in the first week, they investors $2.34 billion in the second week.
Investments in gold ETFs matched were in line with the movement of precious metals in the global market. Gold soared to a record high of $5,608 in the fourth week of January before paring its gains. Investors began to switch from gold to other assets such as bonds after US Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as the next US Fed chief.
Hawkish Warsh impact
Gold is currently ruling at $5,030.77 an ounce, gaining nearly a per cent on Friday following geopolitical tensions over the US-Iran standoff.
Warsh is perceived by the market as hawkish in his stance on interest rates, leading to traders moving out of precious metals, which were seen as the best investment bet till then in view of a falling dollar, tariff wars and geopolitical tensions.
Europe, which began to witness outflows from ETFs in January last week (encashing $942 million), continued to book profits in the first week of this month. The outflow in Europe was $3.08 billion, but inflows increased to $914 million in the second week.
Outflows and inflows in North America were almost similar, with investors encashing $692.6 million in the first week and returning to invest $625 million in the second week.
Indian trend
Gold holdings fell by about 30 tonnes in the first week compared with the week ending January 30 to 4,114.2 tonnes before rising 15 tonnes in the second week. Europe witnessed the biggest fall of 21.2 tonnes, followed by North America at 5.8 tonnes.
Though details of the gold ETFs trend in India is limited, provisional data show that AUM dropped from $19.8 billion in the last week of January to $18.5 billion. In the second week, there was a marginal rise to $18.6 billion.
Investors in the UK topped encashment in ETFs, taking away $1.91 billion in the first week, following a $363 million outflow in the last week of January. In the second week, inflows in the UK were $272 million.
Cautious Japanese
Outflows in the US were the second highest at $655 million in the first week, followed by Germany ($522 million), France ($474.3 million) and China ($413 million). In the second week, investors in South Africa and Turkey chose to book profits, but other countries saw investments resuming.
In the second week of this month, investors in the US and China led the return, investing $567. 9 million and $405.7 million, respectively. Japanese, whose encashment was minimal when bullion prices crashed in the first week, were the third-highest investors, chipping in with $345.3 million.
Inflows in the UK, Germany and Switzerland were $272.1 million, $245.2 million and $217.9 million, respectively. France also saw an investment of $186 million. Details on Indian ETF flows are awaited.
Published on February 20, 2026
