Gold holdings at the world’s largest bullion-backed exchange-traded fund jumped above 1,000 tonnes for the first time, the latest indication of investor demand for bullion amid increasing financial turbulence and economic slump.

The SPDR Gold Trust holdings have risen 228.6 tonnes so far this year, to a record 1,008.8 tonnes late on Tuesday, absorbing in the first seven weeks of the year about 10 per cent of the world’s annual mine gold output.