“Holdings of gold in exchange traded funds (ETFs) around the world have fallen back to levels last seen before the global financial crisis in 2008, wiping away all the speculative froth in precious metals.  The once-popular GLD fund has lost 57pc of its value over the last year with outflows of $25bn (£15bn) as investors brace for a cycle of monetary tightening by the US Federal Reserve, typically a headwind for gold and commodities. JP Morgan says interest in gold has evaporated to the point where speculative long and short positions monitored by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission have dropped to the lowest since early 2006.  The wild card is China, still buying fistfuls of physical gold.”