Gold moved in a V-shape in July, initially under pressure from hawkish central bank statements then recovering strongly on the back of disappointing economic data and political uncertainty. The prospect of rising global interest rates following remarks by ECB president Mario Draghi and other central banks such as the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada had investors flee from interest-free gold investments. With the euro zone economy firmly on the path to recovery, investors believed that an end to the ECB's non-conventional policy measures were in the pipeline. Gold stabilized temporarily when US ADP employment data fell well short of expectations – raising doubts as to further tightening by the Fed. Yet, strong NFP data reignited gold's descent. By mid-month, gold prices had reversed. A flood of disappointing economic data from the US and dovish remarks by Fed members, including Chair Janet Yellen's testimony, fuelled a strong recovery in gold. Gold was further supported by developments in the Trump-Russia saga. In this latest episode, Trump's eldest son and son-in-law met with a Russian lawyer after being promised damaging information on Hilary Clinton before last year's U.S. election. As month-end approached, gold gave back a little as the prospect of higher global rates returned – notably with the Australian central bank considering a rate hike earlier-than-expected, and Mario Draghi announcing that they will begin to discuss tapering in the months to come.