Gold started the New Year on the front foot as markets took a hammering following disappointing data from China.
Drama unfolded in the People’s Republic overnight after trading on both the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges was suspended.
The former dropped almost 7% - or more than 250 points – after worse than expected manufacturing data.
It is the first time Chinese regulators have activated the suspension in trading as a circuit breaker safety measure.
The Caixin Purchasing Managers’ Index had a reading of 48.2 for December, the tenth reading in a row below 50.
Alastair McCaig, at IG, said: “Worries over China’s ability to keep up its pace of economic growth have been hit with an early warning sign as the Caixin PMI data came in weaker than expected, and stretched the contraction in China to ten months.”
Gold, traditionally seen as a safe haven in times of economic strife, rose US$17, or 1.6%, to US$1,078.
Elsewhere, silver gained 2.6% to US$14.17 while platinum was flat at US$890.
Major Movers
Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) up 178p to 4,321p
Fresnillo (LON:FRES) up 5p to 713p
Anglo American (LON:AAL) down 16p to 282p