China’s central bank continued to add gold to its reserves for an 11th consecutive month in September. The People’s Bank of China added 40,000 troy ounces (1.24 tonnes) of gold to its reserves, taking the total to 74.06 million troy ounces (2,303.5 tonnes). China has purchased a total of 1.26m troy ounces (39.2 tonnes) since restarting its purchases in November 2024, as the People’s Bank of China continues to boost its gold reserves amid geopolitical uncertainties.
Meanwhile, recent data from the World Gold Council shows that overall central bank net purchases stood at 15 tonnes in August. Despite a recent pause in buying, the National Bank of Poland remains the top gold buyer in 2025 so far, adding 67 tonnes of gold to its reserves.
Gold remains supported with spot prices approaching US$4,000/oz yesterday following mounting uncertainty about a US shutdown and political turmoil in France. In the second week of the ongoing US government shutdown, access to key economic data has been cut off, leaving investors and the Federal Reserve in the dark about changing conditions. Despite the uncertainty, traders still expect a quarter-point rate cut this month.
Meanwhile, political shakeups in France and Japan are fuelling fiscal concerns, and a surge in demand from both retail investors and institutional inflows in Europe and Japan – supporting the gold price rally. Gold is already up more than 50% year-to-date, driven by US President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade and geopolitical moves, which sparked a flight to safety and a shift away from the dollar. Strong central bank buying, continued ETF inflows and expectations of a further Fed rate cut have added fuel to the rally.