(Kitco News)- Holdings of gold byexchange-traded funds around the world fell by 38.6 tonnes in July to 2,393.6tonnes, the World Gold Council reported Tuesday.
This, along with a2% decline in the gold price during June, pushed assets under management ingold ETFs lower to $94 billion from $98 billion in June, the gold industryorganization said.
The ETFs trade likea stock but track the price of the commodity, with metal put into storage toback the shares. They give investors access to the price of gold without havingto worry about assaying or storage.
ETF gold outflowsoccurred in July from all regions around the world, but the most occurred inNorth America, where gold holdings fell by 25 tonnes, the WGC said. EuropeanETF holdings fell by 8 tonnes, while those listed in Asia fell by 5.1 tonnes.Other parts of the world lost 0.6 tonne.
Among individualETFs, SDPR Gold Shares and iShares Gold Trust led the declines in NorthAmerica, losing 19 and 6.4 tonnes, respectively. In Europe, Source Physicallost 14.8 tonnes, the council said. The Bosera Gold ETF in China lost 5.6tonnes.
Meanwhile, inEurope, iShares Physical Gold added 18 tonnes of holdings.
For the year todate, global gold ETFs still have net inflows. WGC data show that holdings areup by 22.3 tonnes since the start of the year, mainly thanks to 44 tonnes ofinflows in Europe. North American ETF holdings have fallen by a combined 20.2tonnes since the end of 2017.
By Allen SykoraFor Kitco News
Follow @AllenSykora