What is the current XAU gamma exposure (GEX)?

As of May 29, 2026, PHLX Gold/Silver Sector Index (XAU) net gamma exposure is negative at $4.4M under the standard dealer-hedging convention. Net dealer delta exposure is $37.7M. GEX aggregates the gamma sitting on dealer books across all listed strikes and expirations.

Is XAU in positive or negative dealer gamma right now?

XAU is currently in negative dealer gamma. Dealers net short gamma must sell into weakness and buy into strength to maintain delta-neutrality, which amplifies realized volatility and tends to accelerate directional moves.

What does XAU GEX tell options traders?

GEX is a regime indicator: positive-gamma regimes favor mean-reverting strategies (premium-selling near established ranges); negative-gamma regimes favor momentum and breakout strategies. The same options-strategy structure can be appropriate or inappropriate depending on the dealer-gamma regime, so reading the sign and magnitude of net GEX before sizing positions is standard practice.

PHLX Gold/Silver Sector Index (XAU) Gamma Exposure (GEX) & Greeks

Gamma exposure (GEX) analysis shows how options positioning creates dealer hedging pressure across strikes. Includes delta, vanna, charm, vomma, and vega exposure by strike price.

Snapshot as of May 29, 2026.

Spot Price: $371.50
Net Gamma: -$4.4M
Net Delta: $37.7M
Net Vega: -$123.0K
Gamma Concentration: 0.48

As of May 29, 2026, PHLX Gold/Silver Sector Index (XAU) has negative net gamma exposure of $4.4M under the standard dealer-hedging convention. Net delta exposure is $37.7M. Negative GEX means dealers are net short gamma: they must sell into weakness and buy into strength, amplifying realized volatility and accelerating directional moves.

XAU Strategy Sizing in the Current GEX Regime

PHLX Gold/Silver Sector Index is in a negative dealer-gamma regime ($4.4M). Net dealer delta of $37.7M sets the size of the directional hedging flow that fires as spot moves. In this regime, momentum and breakout strategies fit the regime: long calls or puts, ratio backspreads, calendar spreads positioned for vol expansion. Realized volatility tends to overshoot implied during negative-gamma stretches, hurting indiscriminate short-vol exposure. The gamma-flip level - the spot price at which net dealer gamma changes sign - is the most actionable anchor for sizing: through-flip moves trigger qualitatively different hedging behavior than within-regime moves, so risk-defined structures sized to the current spot may not stay sized correctly if a flip is near.

Reading the XAU gamma exposure profile

The per-strike GEX bars above show where dealer hedging will fire as spot moves through each strike. Net dealer gamma is negative at -$4.4M, so as spot moves dealers buy rallies and sell dips, mechanically amplifying realized volatility. Net dealer delta of $37.7M sets the size of the directional hedging flow that fires as spot moves: a 1% move in XAU triggers approximately $376.6K of dollar hedging. Net vega of -$123.0K measures how dealer P&L scales with implied-volatility shifts - a 1-point IV move shifts dealer book value by approximately that amount per vol point. Gamma concentration ratio is 0.48, a measure of how clustered dealer gamma is around the current spot - higher concentration means more violent hedging when spot crosses key strikes.

XAU GEX regime and trading style

In the current negative-gamma regime, PHLX Gold/Silver Sector Index realized volatility tends to overshoot implied, favoring long-vol structures: long puts/calls, ratio backspreads, calendar spreads positioned for vol expansion. Risk: indiscriminate short-vol exposure (covered calls, iron condors, cash-secured puts) gets hit when realized blows past the implied move. The current expected move of 13.59% is the anchor for sizing wings - structures with wings at ±1σ collect ~68% probability of staying inside the band.

How dealer hedging on XAU feeds spot tape

Dealer hedging is mechanical, not opinionated - the flow is the inverse of options buyer/seller positioning. Short-gamma dealers buy rallies and sell dips, widening intraday ranges. That is the mechanism behind "vol begets vol" episodes - the first leg of a move triggers hedging that extends the move further. The gamma-flip strike is the most actionable single number on this page: cross it and the entire hedging regime inverts. Through-flip moves typically come with regime-change in realized volatility, not just direction.

Practical caveats for trading XAU GEX

Dealer-gamma exposure is a model output, not a measured quantity. The figures here use the standard assumption that customers buy options and dealers are short the inventory, hedged delta-neutral. Reality has more texture: dealers occasionally net long inventory after option-overwriter ETF flows or systematic vol-target strategy rolls, in which case the sign of the regime inverts from what the GEX page implies. XAU's current put/call volume ratio of 0.07 is a quick proxy for whether the customer-side flow is balanced; ratios well above 1.0 or below 0.6 are the regimes where the dealer-short-gamma assumption is most fragile. Cross-check with the IV-rank context on the volatility page: high-IV-rank regimes tend to coincide with negative gamma even when the headline number prints positive, because realized vol is already running hot enough to make hedging flows reactive rather than damping. When the implied move sits above 4% (13.59% here), the entire gamma profile compresses into the near-expiration tenors and the longer-dated GEX number becomes less actionable. Treat the gamma sign as a probability tilt, not a deterministic prediction.

Learn how gamma exposure is reported and how to read the data →

Frequently asked XAU gamma exposure (gex) & greeks questions

What is the current XAU gamma exposure (GEX)?: As of May 29, 2026, PHLX Gold/Silver Sector Index (XAU) net gamma exposure is negative at $4.4M under the standard dealer-hedging convention. Net dealer delta exposure is $37.7M. GEX aggregates the gamma sitting on dealer books across all listed strikes and expirations.
Is XAU in positive or negative dealer gamma right now?: XAU is currently in negative dealer gamma. Dealers net short gamma must sell into weakness and buy into strength to maintain delta-neutrality, which amplifies realized volatility and tends to accelerate directional moves.
What does XAU GEX tell options traders?: GEX is a regime indicator: positive-gamma regimes favor mean-reverting strategies (premium-selling near established ranges); negative-gamma regimes favor momentum and breakout strategies. The same options-strategy structure can be appropriate or inappropriate depending on the dealer-gamma regime, so reading the sign and magnitude of net GEX before sizing positions is standard practice.