Gold slips as China keeps buying on hold for second month

Gold slipped after the biggest weekly advance in three months, with central-bank purchasing patterns in focus.

Bullion traded near $2,380 an ounce after rallying by almost 3% last week. The People’s Bank of China didn’t add gold to its reserves for a second month in June, but a report from India suggested the nation’s central bank probably increased its bullion reserves by the most in almost two years.

“Some pullback in gold prices” shouldn’t be ruled out following the PBOC data, said Christopher Wong, a foreign-exchange strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. “But it is not uncommon for China to temporarily halt purchases, given that gold prices have rallied quite sharply.”

Gold has soared this year — hitting a record in May — as central-bank buying lifted prices, with policymakers in countries including India, China and Singapore seeking to diversify reserves. The precious metal has also been supported by bets the US Federal Reserve will start to cut interest rates as inflation cools, as well as geopolitical tensions.

Bullion held by the PBOC was unchanged at 72.8 million troy ounces at the end of last month, according to figures released on Sunday. The central bank opted not to add to reserves in May, ending an 18-month buying spree.

The Reserve Bank of India added more than nine tons in June, based on calculations using weekly data, according to Krishan Gopaul, an analyst at the World Gold Council. That’s the most since July 2022, and means India’s reserves have expanded by 37 tons this year to 841 tons, he said in a social media post.

Spot gold declined as much as 0.5% to $2,380.80 an ounce in Singapore hours, and traded at $2,382.65 at 2:26 p.m. in Singapore. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was flat. Silver fell about 1%, but held near $31 an ounce after jumping by more than 7% last week. Palladium and platinum dropped.

It’s possible that soaring gold prices have deterred purchases by the PBOC, according to Charu Chanana, a strategist at Saxo Capital Markets Pte in Singapore. Still, there’s further upside for gold amid increasing hopes for looser monetary policy this year, as well as ongoing geopolitical risks, she said.

In the coming days, gold traders will assess two days’ of Congressional testimony from Fed chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday and Wednesday for hints about the outlook for US rates into the year-end, as well as June consumer price index data on Thursday.

Macro factors are likely to “matter more in the next leg of the gold rally,” according to Standard Chartered Plc analyst Zhong Liang Han. Soft US labor data on Friday helped drive gold higher as traders increased wagers on lower rates later this year, he added.