The morning briefing from Chapman Gold: what moved the gold market and why it matters. Prices in the banner above are live.
Gold ends the week above $4,600 an ounce, a three month high
Gold rallied on Friday to its highest level since mid May, trading above $4,600 an ounce and breaching its 200 day moving average. It was the third consecutive weekly gain, with the week's advance put at roughly 5 per cent. A frail dollar and supportive technicals were named as the drivers. (Kitco News, CNBC)
A US Treasury buyback announcement did most of the work
The catalyst came on Wednesday, when the Treasury said it would double the size of its buybacks of longer dated securities over the coming quarter, to at least $4 billion per operation. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated he may increase repurchases further. Yields and the dollar fell on the news and gold rose with them, on renewed questions about US fiscal sustainability. (CNBC)
Central bank buying accelerated sharply in the second quarter
Central banks bought a net 288.9 tonnes of gold in the second quarter of 2026, up 62 per cent on the 177.9 tonnes bought in the same quarter of 2025. First half purchases totalled 345 tonnes, behind last year's pace because of a weak first quarter but rising steeply into the summer. Official sector demand remains the structural floor under this rally. (World Gold Council data, reported by eToro)
China extends its buying streak to 21 months
The People's Bank of China added about 20 tonnes to its reserves in July, the twenty first consecutive month of accumulation and the largest single month addition since October 2023. Chinese gold ETFs also drew more than $1.2 billion over fourteen straight trading days of inflows through early August, the longest such run since March. (Bloomberg, World Gold Council)
India: imports rebound as the jewellery trade steadies
The World Gold Council's latest India update describes a recovery taking shape, with jewellery demand improving, steady investment demand and a rebound in imports. It notes the international gold price rose 9 per cent in the first two weeks of August to $4,391 an ounce, which usually tests Indian buying rather than helping it, so a firmer domestic market at these levels is worth noting ahead of the festival season. (World Gold Council, Kavita Chacko)
Miners bank the price: Zijin plans an output push after record profit
Zijin Mining is planning double digit growth in gold and copper production this year after surging prices drove annual profit to another record. Barrick reported second quarter attributable adjusted EBITDA of $2.5 billion, up 51 per cent year on year, on gold production of 796,000 ounces, 3 per cent above its own guidance. Higher output from the majors is the supply side answer to a $4,000 plus gold price, and it arrives slowly. (MINING.COM, Bloomberg, company results)
The Week in Gold
Gold added around 5 per cent over the week, its third weekly gain in a row, and closed above $4,600 an ounce at a three month high. The driver was monetary and fiscal rather than physical: the Treasury's expanded buyback programme pulled longer dated yields and the dollar down together, and gold took the difference. Central bank demand and Asian investment flows sat underneath it. The week ahead carries the two prints that could interrupt the run, with July core PCE inflation and the preliminary second quarter GDP reading both due on Wednesday 26 August, followed by the Jackson Hole symposium from 27 to 29 August, where Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh gives his first keynote at the event. Traders also have one eye on West Asia, where the US and Iran deal and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz remain in focus. (Business Standard, IG, CNBC)
Sources: Kitco News, CNBC, Bloomberg, MINING.COM, World Gold Council, eToro market insights, Business Standard, IG. Compiled Monday 24 August 2026. Nothing here is investment advice; it is the news, read with a jeweller's eye. For what the market means in real terms, see The Gold Price, where the world is priced in gold.