MW As markets unravel, gold heads for its best three-day rally since the COVID-19 chaos

By Christine Idzelis

A popular gold ETF has attracted more than $1.3 billion of inflows in the past week as of April 10, FactSet data show

Gold has been on a tear this week, extending a recent run-up, with investors most recently flocking to it as a haven amid turbulent markets sparked by a global trade war over tariffs.

"During the last three days, gold is up over 8% and on pace for its largest three-day move since March 2020," Bespoke Investment Group said in a Friday note. "Before that, you would have to go back to the financial crisis to find the last time it rallied as much in three days."

"During periods of the most heightened volatility and uncertainty in markets, three areas where investors often flock are gold, the dollar, and U.S. Treasuries," Bespoke said. "This week, only one of those safe havens caught a bid," the firm said, pointing to the yellow metal.

The U.S. dollar DXY and Treasurys were down Friday and heading for weekly losses, according to FactSet data, at last check. By contrast, gold (GC00) was on track to rise this week.

"Gold may be catching a bid, but the dollar has floundered," said Bespoke. "If you were looking for bonds to provide some ballast in your portfolio this week, you didn't get it with Treasuries."

The U.S. bond market has broadly slumped this week, with long-term Treasurys particularly hard hit as their yields jumped.

For example, the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT was down 0.4% early afternoon Friday, with shares of the exchange-traded fund on track to tumble more than 7% this week.

Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note BX:TMUBMUSD10Y was climbing about 10 basis points in early afternoon trading on Friday to around 4.5%, according to FactSet data. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Shares of the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF AGG, which provides broad exposure to the U.S. investment-grade bond market, were down on Friday and on pace for a weekly loss of almost 3%.

Ultra short-term Treasurys were holding up, though. The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF SGOV was about flat in early afternoon trading and on course for a slight weekly gain of 0.1%, according to FactSet data.

Read: Bonds slump but short-term Treasurys hold steady as tariffs heighten stagflation fears

Meanwhile, SPDR Gold Shares, a popular ETF that buys the yellow metal, was rallying 2.2% early afternoon Friday for a gain so far this week of almost 7%. The ETF GLD has attracted more than $1.3 billion of inflows in the past week as of April 10, FactSet data show.

Major U.S. stock indexes were up early afternoon Friday, with the S&P 500 SPX on track for a weekly gain driven by its massive bounce on Wednesday amid volatile markets.

The S&P 500 has lost about 5% so far this month, after the White House's April 2 announcement on tariffs sparked carnage in U.S. stocks.

Check out: Top strategists say stock market still bogged down by tariff uncertainty despite Trump's pause

-Christine Idzelis

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April 11, 2025 12:45 ET (16:45 GMT)

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