The global gold market has once again reached a milestone moment. On January 26th, the spot price of gold in London surged continuously, breaking through the two major psychological barriers of $5,000 and $5,100, hitting a peak of $5,111 per ounce; COMEX gold also strengthened in tandem on the same day, reaching a high of $5,095 per ounce, also setting a new historical record. On January 27th, after refreshing its historical high, gold experienced a slight pullback; at the time of writing, it was trading around $5,070 per ounce, up over 1.2%. Amid this environment of persistently strong gold prices, fund products linked to gold have seen unprecedented popularity, with gold-related thematic ETFs becoming a major focus for capital inflows and demonstrating remarkable fundraising appeal.
According to Wind statistics, there are currently 20 gold-themed ETF products in the market, comprising 14 gold ETFs and 6 gold equity ETFs, indicating an increasingly complete product ecosystem. Wind data shows that on January 26th, six of the top ten ETFs by daily gains were gold equity ETFs, with four of them posting increases exceeding 8%. Specifically, the Gold Equity ETF (159321) managed by Hua An Fund surged 8.67%, ranking first with a staggering year-to-date increase of 39.34%. The Gold Equity ETF Fund (159322) managed by Ping An Fund also rose over 8%, accumulating a 37.58% gain so far this year. Furthermore, the other four funds on the list, including ICBC Credit Suisse Fund's Gold Equity ETF (159315), Guotai Fund's Gold Equity ETF (517400), Yongying Fund's Gold Equity ETF (517520), and ChinaAMC's Gold Equity ETF (159562), have all achieved year-to-date gains exceeding 38%, showcasing astonishing returns during this gold price upcycle that far outpace most mainstream asset classes over the same period.
From a longer-term perspective, data reveals that the aforementioned six funds have all doubled their value over the past year, with Yongying Fund's Gold Equity ETF (517520) leading the pack with a remarkable 144% gain in the past twelve months. The other 14 gold ETFs also posted gains exceeding 2% on January 26th, with Harvest Fund's Gold ETF (159831) and Qianhai Kaiyuan's Gold ETF (159812) recording the highest increases of 2.93% and 2.9%, respectively. Looking at the past year, these 14 gold ETFs have also delivered gains of over 70%, achieving substantial investment returns.
The World Gold Council stated that in 2025, the gold price set a new historical record a total of 53 times, driving global investors to allocate capital to physical gold ETFs on an unprecedented scale, with North America being the primary driver; the annual global inflow into gold ETFs surged to $89 billion. The total Assets Under Management (AUM) for global gold ETFs grew to $559 billion, both setting new historical records. Total holdings climbed to a historical peak of 4,025 tonnes.
A latest research report from Shenwan Hongyuan points out that from both macro and micro perspectives, the gold bull market is not yet over, with short-term attention focused on changes in geopolitical events. At the macro level, the optimistic bias of the four major gold pricing factors has not changed, suggesting that medium to long-term upside potential remains. Short-term market sentiment variables are mainly concentrated on geopolitical conflicts, warranting caution against a potential pullback in optimism if events de-escalate. At the micro level: 1) Price/Volume: The deviation of the gold price from its moving averages remains high, but the RSI is relatively healthy without clear overbought signals; 2) Derivatives: Although volatility remains at historically high levels, it has not reached extremes, and the put/call volume ratio still has room to decline; 3) Fund Flows: ETF inflows continue to rise, but the micro-level indicators for the gold price do not provide a clear directional signal.
Chen Ziyang, a fund manager at Great Wall Fund, also remains optimistic about gold's future trajectory. He believes that the two major trends of central bank gold purchases and household asset allocation demand have not reversed, and the long-term allocation logic for gold remains solid. Hong Hao, Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Lianhua Assets, recently revealed in a media interview that the current gold price is still within a reasonable range and does not show signs of significant overvaluation. Despite the notable price increase, the current level is still within the range of fair value, with overall reasonable valuation. However, due to the substantial cumulative gains already achieved and the market rally being relatively well-developed, the possibility of another rapid doubling in the short term is low, barring any major unforeseen risk events.
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