China added 25.8 tonnes of gold to its official reserves in October, extending the People’s Bank of China’s buying streak to 24 consecutive months, while gold posted one of its strongest weekly gains in months. Data released on November 7 showed China’s gold holdings rose from 77.47 million ounces in September to 78.30 million ounces, equal to roughly 2,435.4 tonnes. The increase came even as gold had a difficult October, falling nearly 7% at one stage and briefly dropping below $4,000 per ounce.
China has now added approximately 129.1 tonnes of gold in the first ten months of 2026 and reduced its US Treasury holdings by $93.7 billion over the period. The buying is part of a wider central-bank trend: global central banks purchased a net 321 tonnes in the third quarter, the strongest quarterly total since late 2024, with China the largest disclosed buyer at about 63 tonnes.
On the price side, spot gold closed Friday at $4,045 according to Rio Times data, while CaptainAltcoin reported a close around $4,074. December Comex futures settled at $4,079.50, down 0.83%. For the week, gold gained roughly 4% to 5.2%, its best weekly performance since August. Thursday’s intraday high reached $4,134.83, the highest since late October.
Friday’s pullback followed a much stronger-than-expected US jobs report. Nonfarm payrolls rose 165,000 in October against a consensus of about 65,000, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2%. The data pushed the dollar index up 0.72% to 102.28 and lifted the 10-year Treasury yield to 4.87%. CME FedWatch odds for a 25-basis-point rate hike at the December Federal Reserve meeting jumped to roughly 77–80%, with some snapshots near 81%, after the Fed held rates at 3.75–4.00% in October.
The next major test is the US October CPI report on Tuesday, November 10. A hot inflation print could cement December hike expectations and push gold toward $4,000 or the $3,990 support zone, while a clearly soft report could open the door back toward the $4,135 area. Reference support sits at $4,021.95 and $3,991.58, with resistance at $4,051.45 and $4,088.51.
Bank forecasts remain above the spot price but have been trimmed. Goldman Sachs cut its end-2026 gold forecast to $4,150 from $4,650, while Citi’s 0-3 month target stands at $4,500.
For digital assets, the macro backdrop leans cautious: rising rate expectations and a stronger dollar tend to tighten liquidity conditions for risk markets. At the same time, China’s continued reserve diversification into gold shows central banks are actively reducing reliance on US dollar assets, a theme that can support hard-asset narratives more broadly.
