Some analysts said that traders began taking profits on Monday after the news of the People's Bank of China not increasing its gold reserves for the second consecutive month over the weekend came out.

According to official data from the People's Bank of China, its gold reserves are 2264 tons. Investors remained calm about this news, and gold prices continued to hold a key support level above $2350 per ounce. The final trading price of gold futures in August was $2360.80 per ounce, down 1.5% on the same day.

Last month, China ended an 18 month frenzy of gold purchases, and after news spread, gold prices fell by more than 2% overnight.

However, some analysts point out that although China has not updated its foreign exchange reserves on the books, this does not mean that China has stopped buying gold. Some analysts suspect that as gold prices remain at extremely high levels, China will begin to secretly purchase gold.

In a recent interview, Christopher Vecchio, the head of futures and forex at Tastylive, said that some regional data shows that China bought gold at the end of June.

However, Vecchio added that although central bank demand has a supportive effect on gold, it is no longer as driving as it was at the beginning of this year. He pointed out that the market is now focused on the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve.

At the same time, the People's Bank of China is just one of more and more gold buyers. Last week, Juan Carlos Artigas, head of research at the World Gold Council, pointed out that the gold market is not just a central bank.

He added that although the central bank's gold demand may not reach the record levels set in 2022 and 2023, it is expected that the purchase volume will exceed the 10-year average of 500 tons.

He said, "Our information indicates that central banks around the world are ready for another strong year."

Although China did not officially purchase any gold last month, other central banks are still increasing their reserves.

On Friday, Krishan Gopaolo, senior market analyst at the World Gold Council, commented on social media that data from the National Bank of Poland showed that the country's gold reserves increased by 4 tons in June. This is the third consecutive month of buying by the central bank.

He said, "The current total holdings of gold are 377 tons, which is nearly 19 tons higher than the end of 2023."

Meanwhile, GoPaul pointed out that data from the Reserve Bank of India shows that it purchased 9 tons of gold in June.

"This is the highest monthly purchase volume since July 2022. The net purchase volume so far this year has exceeded 37 tons, bringing the total holdings of gold to 841 tons."