Gold has surged to record highs this year amid market turmoil and an uncertain economic backdrop, surpassing the tech “Big Seven” to become the most actively traded stock on Wall Street.
According to Bank of America’s latest fund manager survey, released this week, nearly half (49%) of fund managers surveyed believe that going long gold, or betting on rising gold prices, is the most active trade on the market right now. The survey showed that this is the first time in two years that fund managers do not consider the “Big Seven” to be the most active trade on Wall Street.
Gold futures (GC=F) rose to an all-time high of $3,334 on Wednesday as investors continue to favor safe-haven assets amid a falling dollar (DX-Y.NYB) and tariff uncertainty.
So far this year, gold prices have surged more than 27%, while the seven major tech stocks — Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), Tesla (TSLA) and Nvidia (NVDA) — have fallen sharply.
Tesla shares led the decline among the seven tech stocks, falling about 38% since the beginning of 2025. Apple shares are down 21%.
Nvidia shares are down 21% so far this year. The artificial intelligence chip giant warned in a regulatory filing that U.S. export controls on China would bring billions of dollars in losses, which put pressure on its shares.
Shares of Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon (the rest of the Big Seven) have all fallen double-digit percentages since the beginning of the year.
Gold prices have risen as central bank demand for gold reached an all-time high last year and investors increased inflows into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) backed by physical gold.
“The new highs in gold prices show a shift in interest in U.S. assets,” Ryan McIntyre, senior managing partner at asset manager Sprott, recently told Yahoo Finance.
“Confidence in the U.S. has clearly been shaken, so people are looking to diversify.”
Wall Street analysts remain bullish on gold, and even amid its rapid rally, they have raised their price forecasts for the metal.
Some 42% of fund managers expect gold to be the best-performing asset in 2025, up from 23% in March, according to Bank of America.
The firm’s survey also showed a record amount of investors pulling out of U.S. assets in the past two months, with 73% of respondents saying “American exceptionalism” has peaked.
