Global gold demand grew to 1 123 t during the second quarter, representing an increase of 8% year-on-year, the World Gold Council’s (WGC’s) most recent ‘Gold Demands Trends (GDT)’ report shows. Published on Thursday, the GDT shows that continued central bank buying and sustained growth in gold-back exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were the key drivers of the increase in demand. Overall, the first half of this year saw gold demand increase to 2 181.7 t, an increase of 8% compared with the first half of last year. Over the last three months, WGC member and market relations director John Mulligan said one key driver of ... (full story)