The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that after stalling around $4,000 an ounce for several weeks, gold has jumped around $400, or 10 per cent, since the start of August and could be on track for its best month this century. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that there have been a few key U.S.-related triggers for the spike, namely the Federal Reserve's "dovish hold" on interest rates, weak employment data and fairly tame inflation figures. These have all tempered Fed rate-hike expectations and dragged down the dollar -- manna for gold. But they come against a more unnerving geopolitical and policy backdrop that has reminded the world of gold's underlying appeal, particularly for reserve managers. Central banks have started to increase their purchases in the second quarter after a lacklustre first quarter. Net purchases by central banks in the April-June period totalled 289 tonnes, more than five times the volume of the prior three months. This was a record high for a second quarter, with central banks buying $45-billion. An International Monetary Fund paper argues gold is "highly volatile, offers only conditional hedging and diversification benefits," and shouldn't be bought for liquidity purposes.