Gold among most heavily traded assets

The liquidity of an asset – i.e. how readily it can be converted into cash – determines the buy-sell spread, decisive for the cost efficiency when buying or selling. Gold is a commodity and one of the most liquid assets across all asset classes – even if private investors often face wide and unfavourable spreads in retail gold trading. However, hardly any other asset is traded as frequently as gold in wholesale trading and on the stock exchange. This also benefits private investors.

Trading volumes: gold outperformed only by S&P500 

The study ‘Gold as a strategic asset: 2025 edition’ published by the World Gold Council in late January 2025 compared a wide range of assets and their trading volumes. The ranking:

• The S&P 500 index was traded more frequently than any other asset across the various asset classes in 2024, with an average daily trading volume of US$311.1 billion,
• Gold ranked second among the most-traded assets, with a daily trading volume of US$232.12 billion,
• US Treasury Bills followed with US$178.7 billion,
• the Dow Jones Industrial Average with US$93.8 billion,
• US corporate bonds with US$34.6 billion,
• German Bunds with US$31.2 billion,
• and UK Gilts with US$23.5 billion.

Collateral for gold ETCs purchased in highly liquid trading  

Gold funds and exchange-traded commodities such as Xetra-Gold also benefit from the high liquidity of global gold trading. The precious metal which physically backs Xetra-Gold shares is acquired at wholesale conditions with tight spreads – a notable cost advantage directly benefiting Xetra-Gold investors. Private investors are otherwise generally excluded from this advantage, even for larger gold purchases in the realm of one kilo bars.