The S&P 500 Index (SP: .INX) shed 1.9% overnight, putting it into official share market correction territory.
A share market correction is generally defined as a pullback of more than 10% from the recent highs.
And the overnight pullback in US stocks now sees the S&P 500 down 10.1% since the closing bell on 19 February.
Now, these kinds of retraces are very normal across global stock markets. In fact, it was only back in late 2023 that we last saw the S&P 500 tumble 10%.
It's a similar story here in Australia. Though with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) up 0.3% today, the benchmark Aussie index is still just ahead of an 'official' share market correction.
Currently at 7,768.9 points, the ASX 200 is down 9.2% since its recent (and all-time) closing highs on 14 February.
Image source: Getty Images
Gold stocks outshining the share market correction
As the old investor adage goes, it's not a stock market but a market of stocks.
And with the benchmark Aussie index within a whisker of a share market correction, ASX 200 gold stocks stand out from the crowd as the gold price charges from one record high to another.
Here's what I mean.
While the ASX 200 is down 9.2% since the closing bell on 14 February, the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD) – which also contains smaller miners outside of ASX 200 gold stocks – has gained 1.7%.
And the outperformance of ASX 200 gold stocks is even more marked in the whole of 2025.
With the past month's sell-off, the ASX 200 is now down 5.3% year to date.
Here's how these ASX 200 gold stocks have performed over this same period:
- Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) shares are up 15.7%
- Newmont Corp (ASX: NEM) shares are up 20.4%
- Ramelius Resources Ltd(ASX: RMS) shares are up 4.3%
- Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) shares are up 28.2%
- Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) shares are up 37.7%
- Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX: PRU) shares are up 23.6%
- De Grey Mining Ltd (ASX: DEG) shares are up 17.0%
- West African Resources Ltd (ASX: WAF) are up 51.4%
Take that, share market correction!
What's driving the gold price higher?
The gold price topped US$2,989 a few hours ago. That sees the gold price up almost 14% in 2025 and marks yet another record high for the yellow metal.
The soaring bullion price helping ASX 200 gold stocks shrug off the share market correction has been spurred by a range of tariffs slapped on nations around the world by US President Donald Trump. With many nations responding in kind, investors fearing a full-blown trade war have been attracted by gold's classic haven status.
Commenting on the record-high gold price, Standard Chartered analyst Suki Cooper said (quoted by Reuters):
Strong ETF demand and continued central bank buying in a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty and the continued uncertainty created by tariff changes has really continued to stoke appetite for gold.
Gold also looks to be catching some tailwinds from promising recent US inflation prints, which could open the door to further interest rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve. Gold, which pays no yield, tends to perform better in low and falling-rate environments.
But John Ciampaglia, CEO of Sprott Asset Management, believes Trump's tariffs may have tied the Fed's hands, for now.
"The potential impact of the tariff and trade threats are impossible to model, forcing the Fed to gauge economic data to help it determine its next move," Ciampaglia said (quoted by Reuters). "We believe the Fed is stuck in a wait-and-see state."
So, can ASX 200 gold stocks keep skirting any potential share market correction?
Very possibly!
According to Alex Ebkarian, chief operating officer at Allegiance Gold, "Gold is in a secular bull market. We forecast prices to trade between US$3,000 to US$3,200 [per ounce] this year."
