Gold ETF Sees Nearly $1 Billion Inflow in One Day

Nearly $1 Billion Floods Into Gold ETF as Investors Pile Back Into the Metal

Investor appetite for gold is roaring back in 2026, even as Wall Street strategists question whether the precious metal still deserves its reputation as a reliable portfolio hedge.

On Monday, investors poured $950 million into SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), one of the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded funds, according to FactSet data. The massive one-day inflow erased the fund’s earlier losses for the year, pushing its net inflows in 2026 to $118 million.

The buying spree comes after gold’s spectacular performance in 2025, when the ETF surged nearly 64%, marking its strongest annual gain since its launch in 2004. That rally easily topped its previous record year in 2007, when the fund climbed just over 30%.

Still, not everyone is convinced gold belongs in long-term portfolios.

In its 2026 outlook, Goldman Sachs’ wealth-management investment strategy team warned that gold has suffered deep and prolonged drawdowns, in some cases falling as much as 70%. Compared with U.S. bonds — which are traditionally seen as a stabilizer during periods of market stress — gold’s track record looks far more volatile.

“Gold has higher volatility than U.S. equities, much larger drawdowns, and only effectively hedges inflation about half the time over rolling 20-year periods,” said Brett Nelson, head of tactical asset allocation at Goldman Sachs. By contrast, Nelson noted that U.S. equities have consistently beaten inflation over similar time frames.

Despite those concerns, investors continue to rush back into the trade, signaling that demand for perceived safe havens remains strong as uncertainty lingers across global markets.

With nearly $1 billion flowing into GLD in a single day, it’s clear that for many investors, the gold story is far from over in 2026.