Gold has surpassed the "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks as the most crowded trade on Wall Street as the precious metal surged to record highs this year amid volatile markets and an uncertain economic backdrop.

According to the latest Bank of America fund managers survey published this week, nearly half of the fund managers surveyed (49%) see long gold, or bets that gold prices will rise, as the most crowded trade in the market right now. This marks the first time in two years that fund managers did not see the Magnificent Seven as Wall Street's most crowded trade, according to the survey.

Gold futures ( GC=F ) on Wednesday rose to an all-time high of $3,334 as investors continued to favor the safe-haven asset amid a falling US dollar ( DX-Y.NYB ) and tariff uncertainty.

Gold prices have surged more than 27% year to date, while the Magnificent Seven tech stocks — Apple ( AAPL ), Alphabet ( GOOGL , GOOG ), Microsoft ( MSFT ), Amazon ( AMZN ), Meta ( META ), Tesla ( TSLA ), and Nvidia ( NVDA ) — are down considerably.

Read more: How to invest in gold in 4 steps

Tesla stock has led Magnificent Seven losses and is down about 38% since the start of 2025. Apple stock has fallen 21%.

Nvidia stock has also declined 21% year to date. On Wednesday, the AI chip giant warned of a multibillion-dollar impact from US export controls on China, which weighed on shares.

Shares of Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon — the remainder of the Magnificent Seven — are all down by double-digit percentages since the start of the year.

Gold's rally comes as central banks' demand hit all-time highs last year and as investors increased inflows into physical gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

"The new highs in gold are signaling a shift in appetite for US assets," Ryan McIntyre, senior managing partner at asset manager firm Sprott, recently told Yahoo Finance.

"Confidence in the US has clearly been shaken, so people are looking to diversify."

Wall Street analysts have remained bullish on gold, upping their price forecasts on the precious metal even amid its fast ascent.

Some 42% of fund managers expect gold will be the best-performing asset of 2025, up from 23% in March, according to Bank of America.

The firm's survey also showed investors have rotated out of US assets by a record amount over the past two months, with 73% of respondents saying "US exceptionalism" has peaked.

Ines Ferre is a Senior Business Reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X at @ines_ferre .

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