Bullish Reversal Chart, page-65

China’s Central Bank Boosts Gold Reserves forEighth Month

· PBOC holdings rise 23 tons in June, taking the total to 2,330 tons

· Economic and geopolitical risks driving central bank purchases ofbullion

China added to its gold reserves for an eighthconsecutive month, with economic and geopolitical risks as well as a desire tomove away from the US dollar driving the purchases. People’s Bank of Chinaholdings of bullion rose by 680,000 troy ounces last month, according toofficial data released Friday. That’s equivalent to 23 tons. Total stockpilesnow sit at 2,330 tons, with around 183 tons added in the run of buying fromNovember. China has the fifthbiggest gold reserves in the world. "I think you have to benchmarktheir eventual holdings against the U.S., which stands at 8,133.46tonnes," said Ralph Aldis, Senior Gold Portfolio Manager at US GlobalInvestors. "I think China would need to perhaps double theirholdings from its current level to going to the second largest holder to havemuch more alignment as a reserve currency." The PBOC’s buying spree thatbegan in November is the longest since a 10-month run that ended in September2019. Prior to that, the last wave of inflows ended in late 2016. Meanwhile,China’s end-June foreign currency reserves rose to $3.193 trillion, up $16.5billion from the month before, the data showed.

China has been an enthusiastic buyer of gold, partly due to its desireto chip away at the dominance of the dollar in the global market. Over the last several months, analystshave noted that China's consistent demand for gold is part of a tactic to bringmore international credibility to the yuan. At the same time, China's buying ispart of a more significant de-dollarization theme globally. It’s also struggling with a disappointing recovery from the pandemic and an increasingly strained relationship with the US.

Central banks around the world bought a record amount of gold last year— accounting for nearly a quarter of global demand — as inflation acceleratedand monetary policy tightened. Some 24% of monetary authorities intendincreasing holdings over the next 12 months, according to a World GoldCouncil survey published in May.

While China appears to be leading the wayin gold purchases, Krishan Gopaul Senior Analyst at the World Gold Councilreported over the weekend that other central banks continue to add to theirreserves. He said that the latest data from the central bank of the Republic ofUzbekistan bought eight tonnes of gold last month, its first purchase sinceFebruary. Meanwhile, Gopaul also noted that the Czech National Bank increasedits gold reserves by about 3 tonnes in June. He added that this is the fourthmonth in a row the central bank has bought gold. "YTD net purchases of gold now amount to ~8 tonnes, lifting total gold reserves to ~20 tonnes," he said. Finally, Poland also appears to be buying more gold. "Data from the National Bank of Poland suggests it bought ~13 tonnes of #gold in June, lifting total gold reserves to ~276 tonnes. We'll confirm the exact figure once it is reported via the IMF," Gopaul said.

Source: Bloomberg &***** News