It's been a fairly awful start to the week for ASX shares and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far today. This Monday has seen the ASX 200 take a significant hit, with investors shaken by what's happening over on the US markets at the moment with the collapse of the tech-focused bank SVB Financial Group.
At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has lost 0.42% and is trading at around 7,114.9 points.
But one sector today is a rather conspicuous outlier in terms of the market's falls. That would be ASX 200 gold stocks. Gold is one of the top-performing corners of the market right now, with the ten shares experiencing the highest gains on the ASX 200 right now all being gold stocks.
Take the largest ASX 200 gold miner on the market, Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM). Right now, Newcrest shares are up a very healthy 3.23% at $24.10 each.
But those gains pale in comparison to some other ASX 200 gold stocks. Take the Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) share price. Northern Star shares have rocketed by an impressive 5.4% so far today to $11.13 a share. That pulls Northern Star back to a year-to-date gain in 2023:
But that's just the start of it.
Silver Lake Resources Ltd (ASX: SLR) shares have gained more than 8.3% today. Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS) shares are up more than 9%. And Capricorn Metals Ltd (ASX: CMM) shares have surged more than 15%.
So what's going on with ASX 200 gold stocks today?
Well, it seems to be a response to the price of gold itself. As we flagged this morning, the precious metal surged in value at the end of last week's trading. It has climbed even higher today and is now sitting around US$1,882 per ounce. That's significantly above the US$1,820 levels gold was asking around the middle of last week.
Gold is viewed as a 'safe haven' asset, and is often bought up when investors have concerns about the immediate future of share prices or the health of the financial system.
Considering the collapse of the SVB Financial Group (Silicon Valley Bank) that has rocked the US economy over the past few days, this probably explains why investors are turning to gold right now and away from most other shares on the market.
This benefits the price of gold itself, but also the ASX gold miners that sell it. Not to mention exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that allow investors to get price exposure to the precious metal. As we covered earlier today, this session has seen a few gold ETFs hit new record highs.
So it's probably for this reason that gold, and ASX gold stocks and ETFs, are all shining so brightly this Monday.
