Total assets under management (AUMs) in gold-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hit record highs of $271 billion in 2024, according to the World Gold Council (WGC).
This represented a 26% year-on-year increase and was driven by a soaring bullion price.
The yellow metal hit new all-time highs on 40 occasions last year, the WGC noted. Over the whole year, gold appreciated 26% in value to around $2,629 per ounce.
Source – Forbes
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE)
, opens new tab held steady at 24,793.53 points, mirroring the sentiment on Wall Street.
However, high silver and gold prices helped limit losses for Canadian stocks.
“A lot of gains were experienced yesterday and today you are probably going to see muted markets,” Allan Small, senior investment adviser at Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth, said on Thursday.
The Bank of Canada is expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.00% when it meets later this month, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
Source – Reuters
The one-of-a-kind 18-carat gold toilet was swiped in under five minutes from Blenheim Palace, the sprawling English country mansion where British wartime leader Winston Churchill was born, in the predawn hours of September 14, 2019, a prosecutor told jurors Monday.
The toilet has never been recovered but is believed to have been cut up and sold.
All the defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Source – CNN
I thought this was interesting and thought I’d share. I’m not entirely surprised that something was stolen I am surprised that the burglars got away with the darn thing! I feel like this is actually kinda funny but hopefully justice will be served. – V.
Poland’s copper mining tax will fall from next year under a new system that will provide deductions related to investment spending, Polish finance minister Andrzej Domanski said on Friday.
The tax on mineral extraction, including copper, was introduced in 2012. Poland’s biggest copper miner KGHM paid 3.87 billion zlotys in tax in 2024, according to its annual report.
“By taking care of investments in Poland, by taking care of the development of KGHM, we also take care of the collective security of the West and the European Union.”
Source – Reuters
Analysts led by Lina Thomas moved their gold forecast for the end of 2025 to $3,300 an ounce, from $3,100.
Gold futures rose 1.3% to $3,060.70 an ounce, buoyed by uncertainty over new auto tariffs announced by the White House on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Bank of America lifted its gold-price forecast to $3,500 from $3,000. As with Goldman, their analysts cited central bank and ETF demand, but also pointed out that China’s insurance industry is getting a regulatory push to buy more.
Source – Market Watch
Source – Money Metals
Zinc, the biggest loser in the LME complex, is currently trading 4.8% lower than at the start of the year.
Meanwhile, tin prices have increased by 13.5% in the first few weeks of the year, making it the biggest winner.
Copper refining grew as expected at 4.2%, but mine production surprised at 2.3%, 0.5% higher than the ICSG September forecast.
The supply of refined copper is under threat due to mine production, which has put downward pressure on processing fees in copper smelters, according to Commerzbank.
The lead market experienced a minor oversupply due to a substantial increase in mine production.
This increase, just under 2%, was fueled by significantly higher supply in the US, Australia, Peru, and Mexico.
Source – Invezz