Gold Slides Below $4,100/Oz; China Retail Jewelry Prices Fall

Gold prices pulled back on July 13 after weeks of trading at elevated levels, with spot gold down 1.46% at $4,059.4 an ounce and COMEX gold futures down 1.19% at $4,064.6 an ounce, both falling below $4,100; spot silver was down more than 2% at one point, according to Jiemian News. In China’s retail market, major brands cut quotes for 24-karat gold jewelry, including Chow Tai Fook, Lao Feng Xiang, Zhou Liu Fu and Chow Sang Sang to 1,240 yuan/gram, 1,240 yuan/gram, 1,235 yuan/gram and 1,238 yuan/gram, respectively, with most down more than 10 yuan/gram on the day; Chow Tai Seng’s price was largely unchanged at 1,255 yuan/gram. Bank investment gold bar prices also fell, with China Construction Bank at 907.3 yuan/gram (-0.82%), ICBC’s Ruyi gold bar at 906.36 yuan/gram (-1.20%), Bank of China at 905.98 yuan/gram (-1.33%), and Ping An Bank at 913.8 yuan/gram (-0.7%). The report cited a stronger U.S. dollar and ETF outflows, noting SPDR Gold Shares holdings fell to 1,002.79 tonnes on July 6 from a June peak of 1,022.20 tonnes. It also said the World Gold Council reported that the People’s Bank of China added 480,000 ounces of gold in June, taking reserves to 75.44 million ounces, marking the 18th consecutive month of net additions.