Gold prices could eventually stabilise around $4,000 an ounce as the current rally is being fuelled more by central banks than by retail investors, according to Herald van der Linde, Head of Asia Equity Strategy at HSBC.

Retail buying, he said, is already showing signs of slowing. For instance, in China, the Shanghai price for gold is below the global price.

“Central banks are trying to diversify their assets. They have a lot of exposure to the US dollar, but they want to put their money into other parts of the basket,” he explained. “They move billions to hundreds of billions of dollars, and one of the places they can go to is gold. Supply is limited, so prices rise up very quickly.”

Gold prices hit a record $4,162 per ounce on October 14. In India, 24-karat gold prices soared to reco

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