PBoC likely increased its gold reserves by 15 tons in September

Bloomberg likewise reports that the People's Bank of China (PBoC) purchased around 15 tons of gold in September, citing data from the PBoC's website. The PBoC has thus topped up its gold reserves for the third month in a row, though its gold purchases were extremely moderate. 

However, this was doubtless due to the central bank's intervention in the foreign exchange market, as a result of which foreign exchange reserves declined for five months in a row. They decreased by an additional $43.3 billion in September after having already fallen by $93.9 billion in August. 

Turkish gold demand has also been down recently, the country's imports totalled just 1.45 tons in September after a figure of 11.7 tons in August. The record-high gold prices in local currency have doubtless reduced buying interest. The minutes of the most recent meeting of the US Federal Reserve will be published this evening. 

The meeting was held before the latest disappointing US labour market report, however, so some of the statements made in the minutes are already out-of-date and should not be attributed excessive weight, notes Commerzbank.