The gold stocks and the gold futures are just now catching up with those two markets. Moreover, the September Japanese yen has strengthened from an August 11 low of .6807 to a September 11 high of .7685. The September Australian dollar has likewise rallied from an August 27 low of .5465 to a September 11 high of .6045. The reversal up by these two currencies has supported gold. Gold held in Swiss bank inventories has suddenly increased from 50 to 700 tonnes.
Swiss banks are the principal agents for Russian gold operations.
However, it is more likely the Russians will lend their gold rather than sell or dump it on the market. Or, sales will occur at higher prices. Also, European central bank gold sales are all but done if not totally over. This long, lingering uncertainty is thus removed from the gold market. More importantly, any future sales of gold held by individual central banks in Europe will have to be approved by the European central bank.