The Bank of Spain, the largest seller of gold this year under the central banks’ gold agreement, has decided against any further significant sales of the precious metal in a move that is likely to fuel the recent surge in prices. People familiar with the pact said Spain’s central bank had already achieved the bulk of its planned bullion disposals. An end to Spanish sales could reduce next year’s central bank gold sales and improve sentiment in the bullion market just as the gold price is approaching a 26-year high, analysts said. The gold price rose Monday to a fresh 16-month high of $719.65 a troy ounce, underpinned by dollar weakness ahead of Tuesday’s Fed rate decision.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Tuesday, September 18th, 2007 at 5:33 and is filed under Capital markets. Edit this entry.