Gold hits six-week highs on China demand as Bitcoin ignores fresh S&P 500 record
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- Gold gained 2.8% to $4,213 per ounce, its highest level since June 22, as Bloomberg reported 14 consecutive days of inflows into Chinese gold-backed ETFs
- Chinese gold ETFs recorded their worst month of outflows on record in June, yet year-to-date inflows still reached 40 billion yuan ($5.6 billion) — the second-best first half on record
- The People's Bank of China bought 82 tonnes of gold over the 20 months through June, with the World Gold Council noting rising institutional participation in domestic gold ETFs
- The S&P 500 climbed to 7,793, building on Tuesday's all-time highs, with Bloomberg's Eric Balchunas noting 66% of index stocks now sit above their 50-day moving average
- Bitcoin failed to keep pace with broader risk-asset optimism, holding around $64,000 as analyst Rekt Capital warned of an eventual breakdown toward the $58,000–$66,000 range
- CryptoQuant listed three prerequisites for a durable BTC rebound — sustained US spot Bitcoin ETF inflows, cooling US bond yields, and no expected Fed rate hikes — plus the Coinbase Premium returning positive after roughly 80 days in negative territory
Why it matters: The gold-Bitcoin divergence reveals Bitcoin is no longer tracking traditional risk assets in this regime: gold is winning the uncertainty-hedge bid with 14 straight days of Chinese ETF inflows, while BTC sits in its own bear market with CryptoQuant's checklist showing multiple Fed- and flow-dependent hurdles still blocking a sustained rebound.
