Markets began the week with yet another reminder of just how quickly the picture can change.
Gold briefly slipped below $4,000 an ounce yesterday before recovering above $4,070 today. Silver has rebounded more sharply, while oil climbed above $90 a barrel, up from less than $72 at the beginning of the month, around the level seen before the conflict with Iran began.
This is a dance investors have become all too familiar with this year, but that doesn’t mean it is one we are getting comfortable learning the steps to. Higher oil prices add to inflation concerns, pushing government bond yields higher and reducing expectations that central banks will soon provide relief through lower interest rates. US equity markets edged lower on Monday, with higher borrowing costs adding to the pressure.
Gold is therefore being pulled in two directions. It is attracting demand as geopolitical risks increase, but it is also contending with elevated bond yields and a relatively firm dollar.
Against that backdrop, we have continued to point to central bank buying as one reason not to assume that the recent fall in the gold price represents a loss of confidence in gold.
However, some of you have rightly said that this does not appear to be the whole story.
Russia sold 43.5 tonnes of gold during the first six months of 2026. Turkey reduced its holdings by 81 tonnes over five months. At the same time, reported central bank reserves increased by a net 41 tonnes in May alone.
How can central banks be selling gold and buying more of it at the same time?
That is the question we address in our latest GoldCore TV video.
Russia’s sales appear to reflect sanctions, fiscal pressure and the need to access an asset it can still use. Turkey’s reductions are connected to swaps and reserve management. Meanwhile, Poland, China, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Singapore are continuing to add to their reserves.
These are different decisions, taken for different reasons.
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