Deutsche Borse (DB) released its monthly report for its cash market activities today. The saw a ten percent year-on-year increase in trading volumes and a breakthrough in the level of gold holdings for the firm this May.

In May of last year, the firm finished the month with approximately €133 billion ($155.31 billion) in trading having taken place on its trading venues. This year, that figure grew to just under €146 billion ($170.49), representing a 10 percent year-on-year increase.

More impressively, broke the 180 ton mark for the first time. The firm started the year with 174.2 tons in gold holdings. At the end of May, this number had increased to 181.8 tons.

Trouble in Italy

This growth in gold holdings was driven by sales in DB’s Xetra-Gold ETF. Each unit of Xetra-Gold is backed by one gram in real gold, meaning that each time someone purchases one unit of the ETF, one gram of physical gold is deposited into DB’s holdings.

Demand for gold seems to have been driven by ongoing political uncertainty in Europe. The Italian election and its ramifications with regard to the European Union lead investors to start buying gold.

“The uncertainty on the financial markets has considerably increased again. Demand for Xetra-Gold is directly connected to the political uncertainty in Italy,” Steffen Orben, Managing Director at DB’s commodities division, was quoted in the report.

As a result, gold reached its highest price of the year thus far in May. At the end of the month, the gold price tipped over the €36 mark for the first time since September of last year.