China is quietly continuing its gold accumulation process. Goldman Sachs estimates that Beijing purchased approximately +15 tons of gold last September, nearly ten times the amount officially announced by the central bank. In April, its purchases were estimated at +27 tons, or 13 times the announced amount. In contrast, official data showed an addition of +0.9 tons in October, bringing declared holdings to a record level of 2,304.5 tons.
Since the beginning of 2025 to date, declared gold purchases have reached +24 tons. If we assume that the declared quantities represent only 10% of the actual purchases, then China has purchased about +240 tons of physical gold during the year. Its actual reserves are likely to be much higher than the official figure.
As for prices, gold futures contracts ended last week at 4,116, up 0.5%, while bullion gold closed at $4,065.9 per ounce, down 0.28% during the week. Expectations of an interest rate cut rose again to 67.3% versus 32.7% for the stabilization scenario, after strong labor market data released at the end of last week. (investing)
