The global gold market has once again reached a milestone moment. On January 26th, the spot price of gold in London surged consecutively, breaking through the two major psychological barriers of $5,000 and $5,100, reaching a peak of $5,111 per ounce; COMEX gold also strengthened synchronously on the same day, hitting a high of $5,095 per ounce, also setting a new historical record. On January 27th, after refreshing its record high, gold experienced a slight pullback; at the time of writing, it was trading at $5,070 per ounce, up over 1.2%. In the market environment of persistently strong gold prices, fund products linked to gold have consequently seen unprecedented popularity, with gold-related thematic ETFs becoming the focal point of capital inflows and demonstrating remarkable capital attraction capabilities. According to Wind statistics, there are currently 20 gold-themed ETF products in the market, including 14 gold ETFs and 6 gold equity ETFs, indicating an increasingly comprehensive product system. Wind data shows that on January 26th, six of the top ten ETFs by daily gain were gold equity ETFs, with four of them posting gains exceeding 8%. Specifically, the Gold Equity ETF (159321) managed by Hua An Fund surged 8.67%, ranking first with a 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 the Gold Equity ETF (159315) managed by ICBC Credit Suisse Fund, the Gold Equity ETF (517400) managed by Guotai Fund, the Gold Equity ETF (517520) managed by Yongwin Fund, and the Gold Equity ETF (159562) managed by China Asset Management, have all seen year-to-date gains exceeding 38%, showcasing astonishing return capabilities during the gold price uptrend, far surpassing most mainstream asset classes over the same period. From a longer-term perspective, data indicates that the aforementioned six funds have all doubled their value over the past year, with the Gold Equity ETF (517520) managed by Yongwin Fund leading with a 144% gain in the past twelve months. The other 14 gold ETFs also posted gains exceeding 2% on January 26th, with the Gold ETF (159831) managed by Harvest Fund and the Gold ETF (159812) managed by Qianhai Kaiyuan Fund recording the highest increases of 2.93% and 2.9%, respectively. Over the past year, these 14 gold ETFs have also achieved gains of over 70%, realizing 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) of 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 Shenyin & Wanguo points out that from both macro and micro perspectives, the gold bull market is not yet over, with short-term attention on changes in geopolitical events. From a macro perspective, the optimistic bias in the four major pricing factors for gold has not changed, suggesting potential for medium to long-term upside, while short-term market sentiment variables are mainly concentrated on geopolitical conflicts, warranting caution against a potential pullback in optimism if events subside. From a micro perspective: 1) Price and 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) Capital Flows: ETF inflows continue to rise, but the micro-level indicators do not give a clear directional signal for the gold price. Chen Ziyang, a fund manager at Great Wall Fund, also remains optimistic about the future trajectory of gold. 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 Asset Management, recently revealed in a media interview that the current gold price is still within a reasonable range and does not show significant overvaluation. Despite the substantial price increase, the current price remains within the range of fair value, with overall reasonable valuation. However, due to the large cumulative gains already achieved and the market trend being relatively well-played out, the possibility of another rapid doubling in the short term is low, barring unexpected major risk events.
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