Demand for physical gold picked up this week as the approaching Chinese New Year encouraged buyers in China and Singapore, with dealers expecting more purchases in coming weeks. Chinese dealers charged $0.50-$4 an ounce over benchmark spot gold prices, unchanged from last week when they added a premium having been forced to offer heavy discounts for much of 2020 as the pandemic squeezed retail demand. Buying crept up in Singapore and is expected to recover in the coming weeks, traders said. Prices ranged between flat to benchmark spot gold and a premium of $1.4 an ounce, versus last week’s $0.80-$1.80. “We envisage ... (full story)