New York: Gold-backed exchange traded funds in North America saw inflows in March, amid market volatility and as trade tensions between the United States and China drove safe-haven purchases to bullion, while Europe saw outflows for the second straight month.

North American gold-backed exchange traded funds rose 21.5 tonnes worth $916.9 million (Dh3.3 billion) in March, a 1.7 per cent increase from the month prior, the World Gold Council said on Thursday.

European gold-backed ETF holdings declined 1.1 tonnes for the same period.