The strong moves in commodity markets continue, driven primarily by the war in the Middle East and monetary policy. Investors are particularly focused on gold ETCs on a large scale, hoping for another rise in prices.October 1, 2026. FRANKFURT (Deutsche Börse). Commodity markets remain volatile. Oil prices continue to fluctuate sharply, gold has recently moved lower again, and prices for some industrial metals are at record highs.Gold was trading at $4,188 per troy ounce on Thursday morning, down from more than $4,600 in August and an all-time high of $5,570 in January. “High energy prices are leaving an increasingly visible mark on inflation, while the U.S. labor market is proving resilient in the face of these pressures,” explains Commerzbank analyst Barbara Lambrecht. As a result, the market is pricing in an increasing number of interest rate hikes in the United States, pushing up U.S. bond yields and, in turn, real interest rates, which raises the opportunity cost of holding gold. “Nevertheless, it is encouraging that more long-term-oriented investors remain invested in gold ETCs,” she says.The strong inflows into gold ETCs continued in September, according to issuer WisdomTree. “The longer-term drivers remain intact: concerns about high government debt, volatility in bond markets, and central banks continuing to diversify into gold,” explains Mobeen Tahir of WisdomTree. From the beginning of the year through the end of August, gold ETCs in the European ETC market recorded net inflows of nearly €8 billion, according to figures from ETF research and trading firm Crossflow. Crossflow even described August as a “real blockbuster”: “The €5.7 billion represented nothing less than the largest monthly inflow since ETCs were first introduced.”Strong Demand for Gold ETCsTrading in gold ETCs and gold mining ETFs is brisk. At ICF Bank, gold ETCs are currently even topping the turnover rankings, according to Ivo Orlemann. Most of the activity is on the buy side, including the Invesco Physical Gold in its “standard” (<IE00B579F325>) and currency-hedged (<XS2183935274>) versions.Ivo OrlemannThe broker also sees almost exclusively buying activity for the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (<IE00BQQP9F84>). Maurice Mohnfeld of Lang & Schwarz reports a temporary uptick in trading of gold and silver ETCs, but activity has since quieted down again. When it comes to gold, investors are heavily favoring pure price trackers; for silver, they’re opting for leveraged products such as the WisdomTree Silver 3x Daily Leveraged (<XS3306516876>). The price of silver has been moving sideways for weeks and, at currently $61, is well below its all-time high of just under $122 in January.The top-traded ETCs on Xetra are currently Xetra-Gold (<DE000A0S9GB0>) as well as gold price trackers from iShares (<IE00B4ND3602>), Xtrackers (<DE000A1EK0G3>), and Invesco (<IE00B579F325>). Xetra-Gold’s gold holdings have risen again. They currently stand at 176 metric tons, up from just under 173 metric tons at the end of 2025.Out of Silver.In contrast to the high inflows into gold, silver ETCs saw net outflows of 1.6 billion euros in the first eight months. There were also inflows into mixed commodity ETCs (2.6 billion euros) and, to a lesser extent, into industrial metal ETCs (495 million euros). Energy ETCs, on the other hand, saw net outflows (minus 727 million euros).More on this: crossflow.de“Oil Prices Highly Dependent on Political Headlines”Oil price volatility remains high. A barrel of North Sea Brent crude traded as low as $61 this year and as high as $119. On Thursday morning, the price stood at $97. “With no progress being made between the U.S. and Iran, hopes for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz are fading,” notes Maximilian Wienke of the trading platform eToro. The market therefore remains heavily dependent on political headlines. “As long as a diplomatic solution is lacking, oil prices, yields, and stock prices are likely to fluctuate sharply.”Energy ETCs have tended to be on the sell side in recent weeks, as reported by WisdomTree. High trading volumes on Xetra are currently being recorded primarily by leveraged products such as the WisdomTree WTI Crude Oil 3x Daily Leveraged (IE00BMTM6B32).Copper Hits All-Time High in SeptemberPrices for some industrial metals, such as copper, zinc, and aluminum, have risen sharply. At $14,826, copper reached a new all-time high in September. At its current price of $14,396, it is still up nearly 40 percent over the past twelve months. This is also reflected in ETCs, such as the high-volume WisdomTree Copper (GB00B15KXQ89).“Even in the industrial metals markets, market participants seem to be focusing more on the strong economy than on the economic risks posed by high energy prices,” comments Commerzbank analyst Lambrecht. Overall, however, according to WisdomTree, industrial metals ETCs have been sold off in recent weeks, albeit not on a large scale.By Anna-Maria Borse, October 1, 2026, © Deutsche Börse AG About the Author Anna-Maria Borse is a financial and business editor specializing in financial markets, stock exchanges, and macroeconomic topics.Feedback and questions to: live@deutsche-boerse.com