SPDR Gold Shares Trust Holdings Down For Fifth Month In A Row

February hasn't been a good month for the SPDR Gold Shares Trust (GLD), depite gold's recovery during that period. For the fifth month in a row, its holdings have declined.

"The most popular of the ETFs has for quite some time been seeing falling stocks and at the weekend these, at 1,218 tonnes, were at their lowest levels in almost nine months," said precious metals house Heraeus in a weekly report.

"Whether this is an appetiser for larger profit-taking to come is not clear, but the question is fairly important as this largest ETF, the SPDR Gold Trust, holds almost seven times more metal than the second largest one."

Thankfully, physical demand and (more recently) futures demand have taken up the slack. Gold hasn't fallen that much, even at its worst, as a result of those other demand sources ramping up.