Barry Stuppler

After an initial $20 plunge today, the price of gold turned violently higher and closed near the highs in what turned out to be almost a $50 trading range.  In the aftermath of this turbulent trading, today one of the legends in the business shocked King World News when he said the reason for the wild trading action was that Asian central banks were demanding their gold, some of which is being stored in Western vaults, be sent home to Asia . . . .

Global consumers aggressively ramped up purchases of physical gold in the April-June period, led by opportunistic buyers in emerging markets at a time when the precious metal suffered a record quarterly loss, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday . . . .

The latest World Gold Council Gold Demand Trends report, which covers the period April-June 2013, highlights how recent falls in the gold price have generated significant increases in demand, most notably from consumers in China and India - by far the biggest markets for gold - compared with the same time last year . . . .

Indians bought more gold in July than June despite a series of moves by the central bank to strangle supplies, and their insatiable appetite has forced neighbouring countries to take steps to curb their own imports  . . . .