2 minEconomy
China extends gold buying streak to 24 months despite price drop
The People's Bank of China kept adding gold to its reserves for a 24th straight month even as spot prices fell below $4,000 an ounce.
The People's Bank of China has extended its gold purchasing streak to 24 consecutive months, continuing to add to its reserves even as the metal's spot price slipped below the $4,000-per-ounce mark. The steady buying signals that Beijing is not treating the recent decline as a reason to pause a strategy that has been running for two years.
The pullback in prices marks a retreat from recent highs. Spot gold dropped under the $4,000 threshold, a level that had been closely watched by traders and investors. The source reporting does not fully detail what drove the slump, leaving the immediate cause of the decline unconfirmed.
Central bank purchases have been one of the most important sources of support for gold in recent years, and China's continued accumulation is part of a wider effort to diversify its reserves. Holding gold alongside other assets is a common way for central banks to reduce their reliance on any single currency, and the People's Bank of China's persistence suggests that the reserve strategy is being pursued on a long-term basis rather than in response to short-term market moves.
The reporting available does not confirm the exact tonnage bought in the latest month or over the full 24-month period, nor the precise timing of each purchase. Without those figures, the scale of the buying relative to total reserves cannot be assessed from the source material alone.
For investors, the combination of falling prices and sustained official demand is a notable pairing. Gold has often been seen as a store of value during periods of uncertainty, and the fact that the largest state buyers continue to accumulate even as prices weaken points to a firm underlying interest in holding the metal. Whether that demand will be enough to stabilize prices near current levels remains to be seen.
Source: investing.com
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