Today, several gold stocks are leading in terms of increase. Beijing Xiaocheng Technology soared by 13%, Shandong Yulong Gold, Leysen Jewellery Inc. hit the daily limit, Shengda Resources, Chifeng Jilong Gold, and Shandong Jinchuan International increased by 8.69%, 6.67%, and 6.22% respectively.

Ping An Fund Gold Industry ETF and Guotai Fund Gold Stock ETF both rose more than 4%. Bank of Communications Schroder Fund Gold Stock ETF, Huaxia Fund Gold Stock ETF and Yongyin Fund Gold Stock ETF rose by 3.94%, 3.81% and 3.6% respectively.

On the news front, the international gold price reached a new historical high last Friday, with COMEX gold futures up 2.07% and closing at $2,546.2 per ounce, up 3.06% for the week.

Recently, U.S. inflation data has been better than expected, easing concerns about a recession. At the same time, the market is optimistic about a U.S. rate cut, and traders are waiting for Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's speech next week for clues about the size of the cut. In addition, Federal Reserve FOMC members such as Daly have made dovish remarks, saying it is time to consider a rate cut, further fueling expectations.

Wu Ming, an analyst at Zhonghui Futures, recently believed that the core logic for being bullish on gold in the long run is rate cuts and geopolitical factors, especially with the September rate cut having a significant boost to precious metals and nonferrous metals.

In addition, a new round of ceasefire talks in Gaza will be held in Doha from August 15 to August 16. On August 16, Qatar, Egypt, and the U.S. issued a joint statement saying that the past two days of talks were constructive. Talks will continue in Cairo next week, with hopes of reaching an agreement.

However, information revealed in related reports indicates that Israel and Hamas still have differences in the new round of ceasefire talks, with both sides accusing the other of obstructing the agreement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on the evening of the 17th local time that they were cautiously optimistic about advancing the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Qiu Zuxue, deputy director of the Institute of Personal Banking Securities Research and chief analyst of metals and materials, said that for the past two years, it has actually been risk aversion that has driven gold to historic highs. Looking to the future, risk aversion is still very strong, such as uncertainties in U.S. monetary policy, overseas geopolitical conflicts, and big-country games, etc. It can be seen that central banks have been continuously increasing their gold reserves for the past two years.

There are currently several gold-themed ETFs in A shares, tracking the indices of SGE Gold 9999, Shanghai Gold, and SSH Gold Stocks.

This year, the ETF that has received the most capital is the one that tracks SGE Gold 9999. The total net inflows of Huaxia Fund Gold ETF, Boshi Fund Gold ETF and E Fund Gold ETF this year are 8.088 billion yuan, 3.686 billion yuan and 3.577 billion yuan respectively.

In terms of scale, there are two ETFs with over 10 billion yuan, namely Huaxia Fund Gold ETF and Boshi Fund Gold ETF, with the latest scales of 2.498 billion yuan and 12.522 billion yuan respectively. E Fund Gold ETF follows close behind, with the latest scale of 9.568 billion yuan and the potential to become the next gold-theme ETF breaking the ten-billion mark.

ANZ Bank's commodity strategist wrote in a report that the gold price could reach a new high of $2,550 per ounce by the end of the year. The bank's strategist said that a Federal Reserve rate cut cycle and the resulting decline in U.S. Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar will be the catalyst for long-term strategic investments in gold. Central bank purchases and physical demand will also support gold demand, with the increase in China's gold imports, the increase in rural incomes in India, and the reduction of import tariffs boosting the two countries' gold consumption in the coming months. Any weakness in the gold price will enhance its attractiveness, thus limiting its downside space. In addition, investors may also buy gold during the U.S. election period to hedge market volatility.

Although the reasons for a bullish gold price are clear, including expectations of rate cuts, increased geopolitical risk, and increased tensions in the Middle East, there are no key catalysts. Dilin Wu, a research strategist at Pepperstone, believes that the biggest risk to the gold price is the U.S. non-farm payroll data due to be released in early September. If job growth slows and the unemployment rate remains high, the data may trigger concerns about an economic recession.