The streetTRACKS gold trust unloads some bullion

The streetTRACKS Gold Shares ETF ( AMEX NYSE:GLD) finally unloaded some bullion today - it must have been those twitchy hedge funds spooked by a strengthening yen again.
The number of tonnes in the trust was almost 11 tonnes lighter in today's update - it is not known whether the metal was sold GLD shares were redeemed yesterday or today as Monday is listed as a holiday on their website.

My guess is that the sales were made yesterday since "Authorized Participants" normally buy and sell after New York markets close at 1:30 PM EST and yesterday saw the gold price drop after-hours, whereas, today it's been rising.

Over the last few months, major purchases GLD share creation has come at much lower price levels as shown below - inventory has been sitting at just under 600 tonnes since back when the price of gold was just $750 and has increased by only a tonne here and a tonne there as gold moved up more than $80.

They actually have fewer tonnes in the trust right now than when gold was in the mid-$700 range implying that recent demand has been driven by some other source - probably India.

The gold ETF will probably end up buying more than they sell creating more shares than they redeem between now and the end of the year - at least that's my guess.

Full Disclosure: Long GLD at time of writing

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