China’s first gold purchases in three years are giving market bulls a reason to be optimistic about the price outlook in 2023 after recent setbacks. Citic Securities, the nation’s biggest brokerage, predicts prices will break records this year. Futures on the yellow metal fetched US$1,937.36 an ounce in New York on Tuesday, bringing this year’s advance to 6.2 per cent, according to Bloomberg data. Gold fell 0.1 per cent in 2021 and 3.5 per cent in 2020, and has retreated 6.1 per cent since reaching an all-time high of US$2,063.54 in August 2020. Global central banks bought almost 400 tons of gold in the third quarter ... (full story)