China, Russia Exceptions as Global Central Banks Slowed Gold Purchases in February

Central banks slowed their gold purchases in February, snapping up 25 tons of the yellow metal against a combined 41 ton purchase in January, data from the World Gold Council showed.

The purchases were also outweighed by monthly sales by certain banks, pushing collective gold holdings of global central banks to decline by 16 tons on a net basis in February, the first decline since January 2015, noted London-based Capital Economics in a note.

Most of the purchases were by China and Russia, who added 10 and 11 tons of the precious metal to their holdings, respectively, after a sharp run-up in purchases over the last ten years.

CNBC

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.

Former Craig

Former Craig

Former Senior Market Analyst, UK & EMEA at OANDA
Based in London, Craig Erlam joined OANDA in 2015 as a market analyst. With many years of experience as a financial market analyst and trader, he focuses on both fundamental and technical analysis while producing macroeconomic commentary. His views have been published in the Financial Times, Reuters, The Telegraph and the International Business Times, and he also appears as a regular guest commentator on the BBC, Bloomberg TV, FOX Business and SKY News. Craig holds a full membership to the Society of Technical Analysts and is recognised as a Certified Financial Technician by the International Federation of Technical Analysts.