Is China Pushing Golds Price Explosion?
Gold has surged to $700 an ounce for the first time in 26 years after Chinese economists suggested the country should quadruple its bullion reserves to protect against a falling dollar. Speculators have been alert to any sign that Beijing may be planning to switch a portion of its massive $875 billion reserves into gold, a move that would electrify the market. They seized on comments yesterday by Liu Shanen, an official at the Beijing Gold Economy Development Research Centre, who said China should raise the portion of gold in its reserves from 1.3pc today to between 3pc and 5pc. Such a move would entail the purchase of 1,900 tonnes of gold, equivalent to gobbling up nine months of global mine production. Washington’s cold response to Iran’s move to defuse nuclear tension also helped fuel yesterday’s rally. “No one is buying Iran’s overtures,” said Frank McGhee, a metals trader at Integrated Brokerage Services. “This is a purely geo-political move for gold. We’ve been here before. The d
