China buying 'could push Gold Prices past $1,000 per oz'

Alto Capital analyst Carey Smith has claimed that Gold Prices could break the $1,000 per ounce barrier again after it emerged that China has bought over 450 tonnes of the yellow metal in the past six years.

Gold last hit four figures in early February, reaching the landmark for the first time since March 2008, when the price hit a record $1,033 per ounce on fears over the state of the economy.

However, Mr. Smith explained in an interview with ABC Rural that China's move to increase its stockpile to over 1,000 tonnes - with a value of about $50 billion - could send Gold Prices soaring again.

He told the news provider: "It put a bit of a rocket under the gold price. I mean, it's run from about $860 when they announced it to, at the moment, about $917.

"So it's once again trying to go through that $1,000 mark."

Mr. Smith's comments come after Charles Gibson from Edison Investment Research told the Daily Telegraph last week that gold prices could rise markedly in the coming months.

Citing negative real interest rates, he noted that a similar scenario in the 1970s saw gold rise to $850 per ounce, which equates to $1,560 per ounce in today's currency.

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