Gold remains Bank of America strategist Michael Hartnett’s preferred protection against a weakening U.S. dollar, with investment funds focused on the precious metal recording their strongest weekly inflows since January.
According to BofA’s latest fund flows data, gold attracted $6.3 billion during the week, marking the largest inflow since January 2026. Investors also directed $25.4 billion into cash, $23.8 billion into bonds and $16.1 billion into equities.
Hartnett linked the renewed demand for gold to his broader “Anything But Dollar” investment theme, which focuses on assets that could benefit from or provide protection against declining confidence in the U.S. currency.
Setting out the case, Hartnett wrote that the “trade is long gold…still best hedge against dollar debasement, bond collapse, asset inflation, capitalist populism vs socialist populism politics of 2020s.”
Bank of America said the same investment theme could also support emerging-market assets. The bank highlighted Brazil’s October 4 election as an important directional event, noting that Latin American markets have responded positively to the election of governments viewed by investors as more supportive of business.
BofA noted that all seven presidential elections held since January 2025 have resulted in victories for right-wing or right-leaning candidates.
Other areas of the market also recorded notable movements in investor allocations. Investment-grade bonds attracted $10.6 billion, their largest inflow in five weeks, while European equities received $1.2 billion, the strongest weekly total since February.
By contrast, Chinese equities experienced $14.5 billion of withdrawals, representing their biggest outflow since May. Technology funds also recorded $1.2 billion in outflows.
BofA’s Bull & Bear Indicator declined to 9.3 from 9.7, reflecting weaker flows into high-yield assets alongside withdrawals from technology and healthcare funds. Despite the decline, the bank described investor positioning as “excessively bullish.”
The bank cautioned that “‘greed’ is always more difficult to reverse than ‘fear’,” adding that bringing a bull market to an end typically requires a combination of excessive investor positioning, overly optimistic profit expectations and tighter policy conditions.