Gold futures gained 0.36% this week as mining stocks fell 1.7%

The Federal Reserve raised its target range by 25 basis points on Wednesday, the first increase since 2023. The 10-year Treasury yield finished Friday at 5.01%. West Texas Intermediate peaked near $106 on Tuesday, then settled at $96.08. Gold is the usual hedge for that mix. Futures still closed the week only 0.36% higher at $4,424.90, 21% below $5,626.80. The mining stocks did not.

Last week a 9.4% jump in crude to $100.05 left gold futures 1.5% lower, with the 10-year at 4.96%. This week the barrel gave back 4.0%, the dollar index rose 1.1%, and the 10-year moved through 5%. After weekly losses of 3.2%, 1.2%, and 1.5% that had already taken futures 5.8% below the August 21 close, the metal recorded its first weekly gain in four weeks. The 0.36% did not reverse that drawdown.

The Fed hike, a 5.01% 10-year, and cheaper oil

Chair Kevin Warsh's committee voted 12-0 to set the funds rate at 3.75%–4.00%, and dropped the line that had treated energy-supply shocks as part of why inflation is high. The two-year yield closed Friday at 4.76%, the 30-year at 5.34%.

The oil side of the week did more of the work. Crude fell 5.7% on Friday as a geopolitical premium in the Strait of Hormuz unwound; Kitco reported that China, at Saudi request, had asked Iran to limit Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure. Reuters tied Thursday's gold rise to a softer dollar after Wednesday's jump. Kitco said Friday that cheaper oil offset the 5% 10-year and a firmer dollar. Last week's $100 barrel did not buy a gain in bullion. This week's $96 barrel coincided with a small one.

Physically backed gold funds moved a little more than the futures. SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust AGLDM, which holds bullion at a 0.10% fee and is graded A, rose 0.69%. iShares Gold Trust Micro AIAUM, graded A at 0.09%, and SPDR Gold Shares BGLD, graded B at 0.40%, each rose 0.60%.

Those gains leave AGLDM up 1.4% year to date and 21% below its 52-week high of $109.74.

Miners sat out gold's bounce

VanEck Gold Miners ETF BGDX, a basket of gold-mining equities graded B in the Precious Metals Miners category, fell 1.7%. iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF ARING, graded A in that category, fell 1.6%. VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF BGDXJ, graded B, fell 0.77%. Against AGLDM, that is a 2.4 percentage-point underperformance in five sessions.

The S&P 500 was little changed, down 0.09% on a total-return basis. BGDX still sold off. Newmont, the largest holding at about 11%, fell 2.7% and was the biggest drag. Gold Fields, at 4.1%, fell 5.7%. Kinross Gold fell 3.6% and Wheaton Precious Metals 2.0%. Agnico Eagle, the other 11% name, fell 0.4%; Barrick Mining, at 7.4%, fell 0.8%.

That split is the exception, not the 2026 pattern.

BGDX is still up 40% over 12 months. Over three months the miners have gained about 16%, against 3.8% for AGLDM. The operating leverage that made miners the better holding for most of this year did not show up in the one week the metal finally rose.

Silver did what gold didn't

Silver futures rose 3.0% to $67.15. iShares Silver Trust BSLV, which holds the metal at a 0.50% fee and is graded B, gained 3.1%. abrdn Physical Silver Shares ETF ASIVR, graded A at 0.30%, gained 3.0%. Same metal, a 0.20 percentage-point gap in the annual bill.

Silver is still a down year. BSLV is 7.0% lower year to date and 45% below its 52-week high. A 3% week in a metal that has already given that much back is a bounce inside a drawdown, not a new regime.

The fee on a 1.4% year

The physical-gold cohort is 10 funds. Two carry an A: AGLDM and AIAUM. The rest of the liquid names are B's, and the B on BGLD is mostly the 0.40% fee. That is four times what AGLDM charges for the same bullion. iShares Gold Trust BIAU, graded B, sits in the middle at 0.25% on $64.9 billion. In a year the metal has returned 1.4%, the fee is not a rounding error.

BGDXJ rebuilt its book at Friday's close. Sunshine Silver, First Mining Gold, and Hemlo Mining said they were being added to the MVIS Global Junior Gold Miners Index, the benchmark the fund tracks, effective at Friday's close. Mineros stated the same Friday close, with the change effective from Monday's open.

The bullion trusts tracked a metal that barely moved through a rate hike and an oil spike. The mining funds, which had been the 2026 way to own the view, sold off as the metal rose. On a 1.4% year, the 0.10% trust and the 0.40% giant still buy the same bar. The 0.51% miner basket buys a different exposure, and this week that exposure fell.