June 3, 2026 A historic milestone in the structure of the global financial system: By the end of 2025, gold had overtaken U.S. Treasury bonds as the largest component of global reserve assets. With a share now of around 27 percent—up from 20 percent at the end of 2024—the precious metal has clearly left the U.S. securities, which slipped from 25 to 22 percent, far behind. This shift is more than just a footnote. It is the result of an unprecedented price rally, sustained central bank purchases, and a profound geopolitical realignment. Valuation Effects vs. Physical Demand Gold’s rapid rise to the top is largely driven by price movements. Nominal gains of around 60 percent in 2025 and about 30 percent in 2024 have catapulted the precious metal’s weighting on balance sheets. If we adjust for this extreme price effect and use the prices from late 2023 as a basis, the picture becomes more nuanced: In this scenario, U.S. Treasury bonds continue to dominate significantly with 26 percent, while gold and the euro are tied at 16 percent each. Nevertheless, behind the pure valuation effects lies a solid, physical foundation. Geopolitics dictates purchases Central banks remain the driving force in the physical market. Although their demand recently fell slightly to 863 tons—just below the 1,000-ton mark of the previous three years—the official sector’s appetite remains unquenched. Notably, the largest purchases come from regions that are specifically arming themselves against external conflict risks. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, certain players have dominated the field: China increased its reserves by more than 350 tons. It was followed by Poland (320 tons), Turkey (220 tons), and India (130 tons). In 2025 alone, Poland once again secured the top spot as the largest buyer with around 100 tons, followed by Kazakhstan, Brazil, China, and Turkey. The motives behind this massive accumulation are structural in nature. Nitesh Shah, chief commodities analyst at WisdomTree, points out that the freezing of Russian central bank assets has set a precedent. The politicization of the U.S. dollar and other G7 currencies offers a massive incentive for many countries to reduce their dependence on these currency areas. Another crucial factor: spiraling government debt. Unlike bonds or fiat currencies , physical gold carries no counterparty risk—it is simply not the liability of another debtor. Structural Limits of Gold Reserves Despite this momentum, the sky is not the limit for gold. At the monetary policy level, the precious metal faces structural hurdles as an official reserve asset compared to major fiat currencies. It is price-volatile, yields no current interest income, and incurs storage costs. The most significant difference from bond markets, however, lies in the lack of elasticity: the physical supply of gold is inherently limited and cannot be expanded at will to respond to short-term shifts in international liquidity. Gold Outlook This paints a complex but extremely solid picture for the gold market. Even though demand has slowed somewhat since the start of the year, the World Gold Council expects central bank purchases of around 850 tons for the current year. Regardless of shifts driven purely by valuation, the precious metal has impressively reinforced its role as an indispensable monetary asset in a world marked by tensions and debt crises. With a share now of around 27 percent—up from 20 percent at the end of 2024—the precious metal has clearly left U.S. securities behind, which slipped from 25 to 22 percent. This shift is more than just a footnote. It is the result of an unprecedented price rally, sustained central bank purchases, and a profound geopolitical realignment. Source： https://goldinvest.de/en/major-shift-in-the-financial-system-gold-overtakes-u-s-treasury-bonds-in-global-reserves

June 2, 2026 The magic number is wavering, but it’s holding: The price of gold is currently struggling to break through the technically and psychologically crucial barrier of $4,500 per ounce. While the precious metal remains in positive territory, a surprisingly robust U.S. labor market is creating significant economic headwinds. For commodity investors, the key question now is: Is gold merely gathering strength at these high levels for the next breakout, or is the U.S. economy providing the Federal Reserve with the perfect excuse for a more restrictive interest rate policy? JOLTS data blows past forecasts The latest JOLTS report (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) from the U.S. Department of Labor sent an unmistakable signal to the markets: Demand for labor in the U.S. is booming. Instead of the stagnation at 6.87 million job openings for April that economists had consensus-wise expected, the figure shot up to a whopping 7.62 million. That is not only a massive jump from the March figure (6.89 million), but also a substantial increase of around half a million available jobs compared to April 2025. A closer look at the sectors reveals a two-pronged economic dynamic: While the number of job openings in professional and business services rose sharply, the finance and insurance sector saw noticeable declines. Focus on Fed Policy: Headwinds for the Interest-Free Precious Metal Despite this extremely strong data, there was no immediate shock reaction in the gold market. Spot gold recently held steady at $4,502.90 per ounce, representing a moderate daily gain. However, the precious metal was unable to break out decisively to the upside. For analysts, the danger is obvious: such a resilient labor market gives the Federal Reserve (Fed) the necessary leeway to avoid being pressured into premature monetary easing in the fight against inflation. In this environment, even another interest rate hike by year-end is back in the spotlight for traders. Since rising interest rates increase the opportunity cost of non-interest-bearing investments like gold, the price automatically comes under pressure. Conclusion: The stalemate continues In the short term, the zone around $4,500 remains the absolute key area. As long as there are no dynamic follow-up purchases here to confirm this level as solid support, caution is advised. The gold market is caught between simmering inflation concerns and the prospect of persistently high interest rates. The coming weeks will show whether the JOLTS report was merely a statistical outlier or marks the beginning of a reassessment of Fed policy. Source: https://goldinvest.de/en/the-battle-for-usd4-500-why-the-hot-u-s-job-market-is-becoming-a-stress-test-for-gold

SMM Nickel News, June 3: Macro and market news: (1) Conflict reignited in the Gulf region: the US military struck Iran's Qeshm Island and fired at oil tankers, with air defense alarms sounding in Kuwait and Bahrain. (2) The General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government issued the "Several Opinions on Deepening the Development of Shanghai as a Global Asset Management Center." The opinions stated that by 2030, Shanghai's asset management scale is targeted to reach 55 trillion yuan, accounting for one-third of the national total; the launch of LNG futures and options will be accelerated, and preparations for R&D of electricity futures and computing power futures will be made; the institutional opening-up of the gold market will be steadily expanded, and cooperation between Shanghai and Hong Kong gold markets will be supported. Spot market: On June 3, SMM #1 refined nickel prices fell 450 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Spot premiums: Jinchuan #1 refined nickel averaged 700 yuan/mt, down 100 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, while domestic mainstream brand electrodeposited nickel ranged from -700 to 300 yuan/mt. Futures market: The most-traded SHFE nickel 2607 contract fluctuated lower in the morning session, closing at 143,670 yuan/mt, up 0.64%. In the short term, nickel prices are expected to remain supported by costs on the downside while capped by inventory buildup on the upside. The reference range for the most-traded SHFE nickel contract is 138,000-148,000 yuan/mt.

[SMM Tin Midday Review: The Most-Traded SHFE Tin Contract Saw Its Price Center Edge Down from Highs, with the Spot Market Dominated by Only Sporadic Rigid Demand]

The General Office of Shanghai Municipal People's Government recently released "Several Opinions on Deepening the Development of Shanghai as a Global Asset Management Center." The key policies related to the gold market are as follows: (3) Enhancing the Influence of "Shanghai Price" Promote the authorization of commodity futures settlement prices to more overseas exchanges, support the "going global" of delivery services, continuously enhance the reach of benchmark prices for commodities and gold, and expand application scenarios for "Shanghai Gold." (13) Facilitating Allocation Channels at Home and Abroad Steadily expand institutional opening-up of the gold market, and support cooperation between the Shanghai and Hong Kong gold markets.

[SMM Precious Metal Express] Shanghai issued guidelines to deepen the development of its global asset management center, targeting RMB 55 trillion in AUM by 2030, accounting for one-third of the national total. The guidelines also aim to steadily expand institutional opening of the gold market, enhancing Shanghai's influence and pricing power in the international precious metals market.