The second year of the third Central Bank Gold Agreement ended on Monday and data showed European central bank signatories to the agreement sold a gross 1.1 tonnes of gold during the year, the lowest annual sales since the five-year agreements began in September 1999.

The current agreement permits signatories to sell 400 tonnes of gold collectively a year, until it expires in 2014.

European signatories showed a similar reluctance to sell gold last year, selling just 7.1 tonnes of the permitted