Gold Demand Slides to 7-Year Low

Physical gold demand fell 20% last year to its lowest since 2009, GFMS analysts at Thomson Reuters said in a report on Thursday, as a rebound in prices after three straight years of losses blunted appetite for the metal. Buying of jewelry, coins and bars, plus official sector and industrial demand, fell to 3,349 tons last year from 4,184 tons in 2015, the analysts said, the lowest in seven years. That helped lift the net surplus in the gold market to 1,176 tons, up from just 220 tons in 2015 and the biggest physical surplus this century.