China's central bank maintains gold buying for 17th month

BEIJING, April 7 (Reuters) - China's central bank stayed the course on gold purchases for a 17th consecutive month, with its reserves amounting to 74.38 million fine troy ounces by the end of March, versus the previous month's 74.22 million.

The country's gold reserves were valued at $342.76 billion at the end of last month, down from $387.59 billion a month earlier, data from the People's Bank of China showed on Tuesday.