21/08/25 11:03:38

Commodities: Gold ETCs back in style

Crisis after crisis, and then even lower interest rates – gold ETCs are once again attracting interest for many. Silver ETCs are also proving extremely popular. Copper saw significant fluctuations.


21 August 2025. FRANKFURT (Börse Frankfurt). Ukraine negotiations and US tariff and monetary policy are shaping the commodities market. This week, all eyes are on the central bankers' symposium in Jackson Hole, USA, which begins tomorrow, Friday. “The focus is likely to be on whether Fed officials will give further signals of an interest rate cut in September,” explains commodities analyst Carsten Fritsch of Commerzbank. “If these speculations increase, it would give gold a boost.”

The price of gold continues to move sideways at around US$3,300 per troy ounce. On Thursday morning, it stood at US$3,340 – well below its all-time high of just under US$3,500. The price of silver reached a new 14-year high in July and remains at a high level. Silver currently costs US$37.88, down from a high of US$39.53.

“Geopolitical risks are pushing up the price of gold”

According to DekaBank, precious metals will continue to be supported this year by the easing of monetary policy. “In addition, geopolitical risks are likely to continue to cause uncertainty and upward pressure on the price of gold,” explains Dora Borbély, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war, the Middle East conflict, and erratic US foreign and trade policy. Another factor stabilizing prices is the continuing demand for gold from central banks, especially in emerging markets.

Dora Borbely

Dora Borbély

Mobeen Tahir from WisdomTree also mentions the back-and-forth regarding US tariffs on gold. These had originally been ruled out. Then there were reports of tariffs on certain gold bars. Later, US President Trump emphasized that there would be no tariffs. “Despite the volatility, we remain confident about the price of gold,” explains Tahir, citing high debt levels in many countries, slowing economic growth, and US interest rate cuts as reasons for this. 

Lively trading in gold ETCs

Commodity ETC trading was also strongly influenced by the Trump/Putin meeting, as Michael Norizin from Lang & Schwarz reports. “Demand for gold and silver ETCs rose in advance, and oil ETCs were also actively traded,” he explains. High turnover on Xetra is currently being recorded primarily by gold ETCs, in addition to Xetra Gold (DE000A0S9GB0) products from Xtrackers (DE000A2T5DZ1), iShares (IE00B4ND3602) and Invesco (IE00B579F325). Also generating strong turnover: silver price trackers from WisdomTree (JE00BQRFDY49, JE00B1VS3333). There is also a lot of activity in oil and gas ETCs, such as WisdomTree WTI Crude Oil 3x Daily Leveraged (IE00BMTM6B32). 
Xetra Gold's gold reserves have risen again this year and currently stand at 174 tons. At the end of 2024, they stood at 167 tons, but at the end of 2023 they were still 199 tons.
 

Gold ETCs: “Quietly accumulated €5 billion”

In July, gold ETCs gained just under €1 billion on the European market, according to ETF analysis and trading firm Crossflow. “Quietly,” more than €5 billion has accumulated here since the beginning of the year. However, over a three-year period, there are still net outflows of €12.7 billion. Silver ETCs are also recording high inflows of €1 billion this year. By contrast, industrial metal ETCs saw net outflows of €580 million. Inflows and outflows are balanced for energy ETCs.

Oil price in zigzag mode

The oil price has fluctuated sharply this year: a barrel of Brent currently costs around US$67. At its peak, it was over US$82, and at its lowest, US$58. Here, too, the war in Ukraine and possible US sanctions against Russia are playing a role. "Oil prices would then rise at least slightly. Otherwise, there is a risk of a further price decline due to the looming oversupply," explains Commerzbank analyst Fritsch. One important reason for this is the significant expansion of OPEC+ oil supply in recent months up to and including September. In addition, demand in the fall is likely to be less dynamic than in the summer months. WisdomTree reports inflows for energy ETCs over the past four weeks.

Copper price sees major fluctuations

The copper price once again experienced significant fluctuations: first a sharp rise at the end of July, then a sharp decline at the beginning of August. “In the run-up to the expected US copper tariffs, market participants had assumed a flat tariff rate of 50 percent,” explains Deka analyst Borbély. However, the high tariff now only applies to imports of semi-finished copper products, not to copper refines, which are so important for US industry. The weak Chinese purchasing managers' index also had an impact. 
WisdomTree reports net inflows into industrial metal ETCs over the past four weeks. “Investors took advantage of the decline in copper prices to enter the market,” Tahir notes. Strong sales: WisdomTree Industrial Metals (GB00B15KYG56) and WisdomTree Copper (GB00B15KXQ89).

By Anna-Maria Borse, 21 August 2025, © Deutsche Börse AG

Anna-Maria Borse is a financial and business editor specializing in financial markets/stock exchanges and economic issues.

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