European investors poured nearly $1bn into exchange traded funds that invest directly in gold in July, more than offsetting outflows from US funds and indicating the emergence of divergent views on inflation, the global economy and future direction of the precious metal.

European funds attracted net inflows of $999m, equivalent to 17.1 tonnes of gold, while ETFs domiciled in North America, led by large US funds, saw net outflows of $402m or 7.3 tonnes, according to the World Gold Council, an industry body. Overall, WGC data showed a 0.3 per cent rise in assets under management in gold ETFs in July, driven mostly by the buying in Europe, although Asia also recorded net inflows.

“Gold is currently in transition,” said Mobeen Tahir, associate director of research at WisdomTree in Europe, which manages a range of gold exchange traded products…read more.