Gold ETFs Notch Tenth Straight Week of Inflows Even as Wall Street Trims Its Targets

Spot gold gained 0.5% to $4,175.91 on softer US inflation data, though high Treasury yields and a firm dollar still capped the upside.

Softer US inflation readings gave gold traders something to cheer about on Thursday, easing fears that the Federal Reserve will tighten policy further. The spot price settled at $4,175.91 an ounce, a gain of 0.5% on the day, as money markets scaled back bets on another rate hike.

Futures reacted more sharply still. The most actively traded December contract climbed $30.30 to $4,217.00 an ounce by roughly 08:00 CEST, with participants reading the US price data as a sign that the peak in rate pressure may be near.

Yields and the Dollar Keep a Lid on Prices

Relief, however, is not the same as escape. Elevated US Treasury yields continued to sustain selling pressure and blocked any more forceful breakout, while a resilient dollar added a second layer of headwinds.

The metal remains a long way from its highs. At $4,175.91, gold sits about 25% below its 52-week peak of $5,598.58 an ounce — a retreat that reflects how thoroughly rate anxiety and currency strength have sapped the momentum of earlier months. Against its 50-day average of $4,335.30, the market is trading roughly 4.1% lower.

September proved a bruising month: the metal shed around 6% of its value, according to media reports, after hawkish signals from the Fed left the door open to further tightening.

Buyers Keep Showing Up

Yet the pullback has not scared off investors. Physically backed gold ETFs logged a tenth consecutive week of net inflows, the World Gold Council reported, with data released Monday putting last week's subscriptions at $1.72 billion against redemptions of $1.59 billion.

That streak extends a pattern that took shape in late summer. In August, the WGC recorded global net inflows of $18 billion, lifting fund holdings by 121 tonnes to 4,189 tonnes. The buying speaks to a persistent institutional appetite for hedging monetary-policy and geopolitical risk.

Central banks are doing their part as well. The WGC put second-quarter 2026 net official-sector purchases at 289 tonnes, and a planned summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping has sharpened institutional focus on bullion as a hedge. Market watchers now expect central-bank buying to average 50 tonnes a month across the full year.

Analysts Rethink Their Long-Range Forecasts

The stubbornly restrictive backdrop is nonetheless forcing major research houses to redraw their maps. On Tuesday, the Wells Fargo Investment Institute cut its end-2027 target to a range of $5,200 to $5,400 an ounce, down from the $5,400 to $5,600 it had previously projected, citing rising interest rates and the strength of the US currency.

Goldman Sachs had already moved on 18 September, lowering its end-2026 forecast to $4,650 from $4,900 an ounce while leaving its end-2027 target untouched at $5,400. For gold investors, the path of US rates and inflation remains the single most important driver in the weeks ahead.