India’s Gold demand picking up again in July; Chinese Gold reserve steady

Mumbai (Aug 9)  Indian gold demand is showing signs of life but the People’s Bank of China remains absent from the gold market, said Commerzbank, citing reports involving the world’s two largest gold-buying nations.

 Gold demand appears to be picking up again somewhat in India.  Analysts cited preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance showing that gold imports climbed to 65.6 tonnes in July, up 20% from the same month a year ago.

 Year-on-year, Indian gold imports have thus risen for the first time this year. The new goods and services tax was introduced in India on 1 July 2017 and initially prompted restraint among Indian consumers, Commerzbank added.

 Analysts suggested full-year Indian imports may be at the lower end of the World Gold Council’s forecast of 700 to 800 tons of gold this year, meaning they likely will fall short of last year’s 763 tonnes.

 Meanwhile, Commerzbank cited data from the International Monetary Fund showing that the Chinese central bank bought no gold in July.

 The PBOC’s gold holdings were last topped up in October 2016. It was recently speculated on the market that the PBOC had been using its currency reserves to stabilize the Chinese currency. Its reserves rose slightly in July, however, Commerzbank added.

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