Overview
- Gold touched a fresh peak near $4,530 before paring gains, while prices remained above the $4,500 threshold on Friday.
- Year-to-date gains now exceed 70 percent, marking the strongest annual rise since 1979.
- Physically backed gold ETFs saw $64 billion of inflows through October, including a record $17.3 billion in September, according to the World Gold Council.
- The BIS cautioned that heavy retail buying heightens bubble risk and could precede a sharp correction, citing past crashes such as 1980.
- Société Générale analysts flagged a slowdown in purchases by emerging-market central banks as a key downside risk, while a weaker dollar and low liquidity have intensified price swings.