In a world where financial transactions ping around the world in a fraction of a second, the booming triangular trade underscores the gold market’s reliance on lumps of metal. In normal times, claims on billions of dollars of gold are traded without the bars ever leaving a vault.

Gold’s extreme price dislocations are fading as tightness in the physical market eases, indicating a rush to ship bullion to America may have run its course.

Gold soared to a record $2,990.21 an ounce on Friday, surpassing highs set earlier in the week, as President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and weak inflation data drove investors toward safe investments.