Gold Intelligence Report

COMEX gold settled at $4,488.80/oz on June 3 — down 15.6% from the January all-time high of $5,318.40 but still up 33% year-over-year. Central bank purchases maintained a 50-60 tonne/month pace in May, ETF inflows hit 84 tonnes (the largest monthly inflow since March 2022), and institutional investors are shifting gold allocations from 2-3% to 5-6% of portfolios. The decline from January peaks reflects a hawkish Fed repricing in late May, but the structural bid from sovereign demand, fiscal sustainability concerns, and geopolitical risk remains intact. This report covers price structure, supply-demand dynamics, inventory and ETF positioning, scenario framework, and forward contracting strategy.