Price gains for gold as China’s central bank stocking up

(Kitco News, Thurs. Aug. 7th, 2025) – Gold and silver prices are higher and hit two-week highs in early U.S. trading Thursday. News that China’s central bank continues to add to its gold reserves and more bullish near-term technical postures in both gold and silver recently are supporting buying interest in the metals today. December gold was last up $20.00 at $3,453.50. September silver prices were last up $0.70 at $38.58.

The People’s Bank of China increased its gold reserves in July, marking nine straight months of purchases that are helping it diversify its holdings away from U.S. dollars. Bloomberg reported gold held by the central bank increased by 60,000 troy ounces, to 73.96 million troy ounces last month. This brings the total of purchases since last November to around 36 tons. Buying by central banks, including China’s, is among the key drivers of the 30% rally that gold has seen this year. While the central bank buying spree is expected to continue, the pace has slowed amid elevated gold prices.

European and Asian stock markets were mostly higher in overnight trading. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward higher openings when the New York day session begins.

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will meet for summit talks within the next few days, the Kremlin said today. Russia and the U.S. have agreed on a venue for the meeting and “together with our American colleagues, we are starting to work on specific issues,” with the aim of holding the talks next week, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, according to Bloomberg.  The announcement came a day after Putin met with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff in the Kremlin for nearly three hours of talks as the U.S. pushes for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Trump has threatened to hit purchasers of Russian oil with secondary tariffs unless Putin agrees to a truce with Ukraine. European and U.S. stock futures rallied overnight on the news.

President Trump’s new tariffs have now taken hold, with higher rates for almost all U.S. trading partners. The tariffs will push the average U.S. tariff rate to 15.2%, according to Bloomberg Economics estimates, with some countries facing duties as high as 50%. Trump said the tariffs will lower U.S. trade deficits with other countries and push U.S. companies to move manufacturing back to the U.S. Critics say the tariffs could cause inflation to rise and cause shortages of some products on store shelves.

Exports from China rose by 7.2%, year-on-year, to USD 321.8 billion in July, beating expectations of a 5.4% increase and accelerating from a 5.8% gain in June. This marked the fastest pace of exports since April, supported in part by a temporary easing of U.S. tariff pressures. China’s exports grew to Japan (2.4%), South Korea (4.6%), Taiwan (19.2%), Australia (14.8%), the EU (9.2%), and ASEAN (16.6%). In contrast, exports to the U.S. fell for the fourth consecutive month, dropping 21.7%, year-on-year, in July, after a 16.1% decline in June. By commodity, exports of rare earths jumped 21.4% annually, while semiconductor exports rose 16%. For the first seven months of 2025, China’s exports grew by 6.1% annually, totaling USD 2.13 trillion, according to TradingEconomics.com.

A. P. Moller-Maersk A/S, a bellwether for world trade, raised its financial outlook for 2025, saying demand outside North America is proving resilient even amid concerns over a trade war. The global container market will expand 2% to 4% this year, the Copenhagen-based company said today. That compares with a previous forecast of a range between a contraction of 1% and an expansion of 4%. Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV, Chief Executive Officer Vincent Clerc described conditions in the U.S. as subdued due to the uncertainty from trade tariffs. Elsewhere, however, a boom in Chinese manufacturing is fueling very strong levels of demand, Clerk said.

The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index slightly up. Nymex crude oil futures are slightly higher and trading around $64.75 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is presently around 4.24%.

U.S. economic data due for release Thursday includes the weekly jobless claims report, preliminary productivity and costs, monthly wholesale trade and the monthly retail sales price index.

Technically, December gold futures bulls have the firm overall near-term technical advantage. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at the July high of $3,509.00. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at the July low of $3,319.20. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $3,470.30 and then at $3,500.00. First support is seen at the overnight low of $3,430.00 and then at $3,400.00.

September silver futures bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage and have regained momentum. Silver bulls’ next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at the July high of $39.91. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at the July low of $36.28. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $38.76 and then at $39.00. Next support is seen at $38.00 and then at $37.50.

Posted by:

Jack Dempsey, President

401 Gold Consultants LLC

jdemp2003@gmail.com