Global gold-backed exchange traded funds experienced their second-largest monthly inflow on record at $18 billion in August 2026, according to the World Gold Council (WGC) report. North America recorded its third-largest monthly inflow at $7.7 billion, while Europe posted its largest flow ever at $7.9 billion. Asian funds added $2 billion, marking the strongest month since February, with China dominating regional inflows as stabilizing and rebounding local gold prices rose 13.3% in August to $4,563 per ounce. Global gold ETF assets under management increased by 16% to $615 billion, with collective holdings rising by 121 tonnes to 4,189 tonnes, the highest on record. North American demand was relatively modest early in the month before accelerating sharply during the week of 17 August when funds added roughly $4 billion, representing more than half of the month's total inflow in just five trading days. The UK supplied $4.4 billion of that European total, its second-largest month ever, while France added $1.5 billion, a national record.
Global stock markets continue their upward trajectory with Brazil leading country ETF rankings at 5.1% month-to-date in dollar terms, followed by South Korea at 4.4% and Taiwan at 3.8%, according to Investing.com India analysis. The US-to-Developed World MSCI ratios have gone flat since early 2025 after climbing for 15 years previously, while US-to-EM MSCI ratios have turned up in recent weeks though both remain well below their 2024 highs. The ACWX ETF and PBUS have tracked closely since Liberation Day last year, indicating a global bull market running evenly across US and overseas equities for well over a year. Emerging markets did the heavy lifting for Go Global through the first half of the year and gave some of it back in July, but the turn suggests that gap is starting to close again. Last week was a good one for Go Global, with the spreads between major overseas equity ETFs and the US ETF showing mixed performance since early 2025, when Go Global started outperforming Stay Home.
The US MSCI trades at a 19.8 forward P/E against 13.1 for the All Country World ex-US, both having fallen this year as earnings gains outpaced stock price increases, as reported by Investing.com India. All Country World ex-US forward EPS continues climbing with consensus stepping up from 2025 to 2026 to 2027, showing a steep stair-step from 2026 to 2027. Emerging markets are the steepest of the three, with South Korea's 2026 consensus earnings growth estimate rising to 333.9% and Taiwan's to 56.9%, accounting for most of the strength in the emerging markets series. The Developed World ex-US series shows the same pattern with forward earnings continuing to climb to record highs. Equities are voting for growth, with the consensus stepping up from 2025 to 2026 to 2027, indicating strong earnings momentum across global markets.
Government bond yields are rising nearly everywhere, with the UK's 10-year government bond at 5.14% yield, the US at 4.78%, France at 4.19%, Germany at 3.34%, and Japan at 2.91%, according to Investing.com India analysis. China is the exception with its 10-year government bond yield at just 1.68% and continuing to decline. For years after the Great Financial Crisis of 2008, government bond yields ran far below nominal GDP growth, but that era is over with yields now converging with nominal GDP growth across major economies and exceeding it in France and the UK. Christopher Hamilton, Head of Asia-Pacific at Invesco, points to two core drivers pushing global bond yields higher: economic growth resilience and inflation concerns, particularly with the resurgence of term premium. Gold is being upgraded from a tactical allocation to a strategic asset amid high government debt levels, as Hamilton defines gold as a "shock absorber for fiscal and monetary shocks" and a proxy voting right for confidence in the monetary system. Spot gold was quoted at $4,408.70 per ounce as of recent market data, reflecting this strategic repositioning.
Activity across the wider gold market rebounded significantly, with average daily trading volumes climbing 21% month over month to $430 billion, as reported by the World Gold Council. Gold ETF trading volumes jumped 83% to $8.7 billion per day, with North American-listed funds accounting for more than 73% of that activity. COMEX net long positions rose 39%, or 212 tonnes, to 753 tonnes, while managed money added 96 tonnes, taking its net longs to 470 tonnes. Year-to-date global inflows total $29 billion, or 160 tonnes, with the surge attributed to three likely drivers: US intervention to support the yen on July 31, the Treasury's August 19 buyback move, and price momentum after gold cleared key technical levels. Global ETF flows had already turned higher in July, suggesting the momentum is building, though September data will show whether Western buyers keep adding at August's pace.
The dollar remains strong with DXY at 99.2 and inside the uptrend channel that has contained it since 2011, as reported by Investing.com India. The yen strengthened materially over the past week as traders repriced not only the timing of Japanese tightening but its pace. The won is at its strongest in more than a year with Korean exporters converting dollar receipts into won against a large trade surplus, while proceeds from a major US listing add to the inflow. Commodity prices are turning into a source of inflation with rising grain prices potentially showing up in food inflation worldwide, and diesel prices rising sharply in recent weeks as a key input for industrials and transport names. Gold's value logic now goes beyond just being a safe haven, with investors allocating gold not just to hedge geopolitical risks but also for its low correlation with other assets such as equities, and its scarcity as a non-issuer, non-credit-risk asset.
