Gold sales from Australia’s Perth Mint, which refines most of the bullion from the second-biggest producer, climbed 41 percent last year as bullion capped the worst annual loss in more than three decades.
Sales of gold coins and minted bars totaled 754,635 ounces in 2013 from 533,333 ounces a year earlier, according to data from the mint. Silver coin sales surged 33 percent to about 8.6 million ounces from 6.5 million ounces in 2012, it said.
Gold fell 28 percent last year for the first annual drop since 2000 and biggest loss since 1981 as an improving U.S. economy cut demand. Some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value as equities rallied and the recovery prompted the U.S. Federal Reserve to pare its bond-buying program. Holdings in the 14 largest gold-backed exchange-traded products tracked by Bloomberg contracted 33 percent in 2013, data show. LINK...
Sales of gold coins and minted bars totaled 754,635 ounces in 2013 from 533,333 ounces a year earlier, according to data from the mint. Silver coin sales surged 33 percent to about 8.6 million ounces from 6.5 million ounces in 2012, it said.
Gold fell 28 percent last year for the first annual drop since 2000 and biggest loss since 1981 as an improving U.S. economy cut demand. Some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value as equities rallied and the recovery prompted the U.S. Federal Reserve to pare its bond-buying program. Holdings in the 14 largest gold-backed exchange-traded products tracked by Bloomberg contracted 33 percent in 2013, data show. LINK...
