Russian central bank tops up its gold reservesin August

The obvious discrepancy between the monetary policy paths followed by the two major central banks should also be reflected in the EUR-USD exchange rate and help the US dollar to appreciate. 

In turn, this should preclude any noticeable rise in gold prices. By its own account, the Russian central bank topped up its gold reserves by around 1 million ounces (roughly 31 tons) in August. 

Following purchases of about the same order of magnitude in March, this constituted the highest monthly increase in reserves since September 2014. Gold purchases since the beginning of the year thus total 110 tons, notes Commerzbank.