Chart of the week: China goes for gold
Spurred on by the collapse in the price, the Chinese having been snapping up gold. From jewellery to bullion bars, the increased gold sales have pushed China up the rankings of the world's largest consumers.
China is the world's top gold producer and will soon be the largest consumer too. Chinese consumers, encouraged by last year's price slide, snapped up 1,176 tonnes of the yellow metal, a 41% increase on 2012.
Demand for gold jewellery rose 43% to 716 tonnes, but it is also increasingly seen as an investment. Gold bar sales jumped by 57% to 375 tonnes. Demand for gold in China and other emerging markets has helped prop up prices.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
MoneyWeek is written by a team of experienced and award-winning journalists, plus expert columnists. As well as daily digital news and features, MoneyWeek also publishes a weekly magazine, covering investing and personal finance. From share tips, pensions, gold to practical investment tips - we provide a round-up to help you make money and keep it.
-
How does the Lifetime ISA work? Key LISA rules
What is a Lifetime ISA (LISA) and how much could the government bonus boost your savings by? We look at the perks and the pitfalls.
-
AJ Bell: a fine British fintech going cheap
Opinion Don’t overlook investment platform AJ Bell, a significantly undervalued British business with an excellent financial base
-
This chart pattern could be extraordinarily bullish for gold
Charts The mother of all patterns is developing in the gold charts, says Dominic Frisby. And if everything plays out well, gold could hit a price that investors could retire on.
-
Chart of the week: silver has some catching up to do
Charts It takes 76 ounces of silver to buy an ounce of gold. Yet the average over the past century has been 40.
-
Chart of the week: gold gets high on Trump’s tweets
Charts Gold slipped in the weeks after Donald Trump’s election, but it has bounced back to a two-month high, and there should be further to go.
-
Chart of the week: gold’s record surge against sterling
Charts As the EU referendum results emerged, gold rose more than 6% overnight in dollar terms as nervous investors piled in. Priced in sterling, the overnight jump was 22%, a record move.
-
Chart of the week: gold loses its lustre
Charts The amount of cash invested in America’s biggest gold-backed exchange-traded find, the SPDR Gold ETF, is a stark illustration of investors’ growing disenchantment with gold.