Yet demand remains “solid,” as the reading wound up the best three-month average since June, when the sharpest quarterly drop in prices since 1983 stimulated interest in the precious metal, the online gold and silver exchange said.

The index compares the number of BullionVault users adding to their gold holdings over those who reduce them .

As it peaked at 71.1 in September 2011, the firm said a reading of 50 would signal an equal number of net gold buyers and sellers amongst BullionVault's 50,000 global users .

“Last month was the worst November for gold prices since 1978 in dollars, and the worst since 1981 in sterling. Once again, BullionVault users took advantage to grow their holdings, extending their response to the 2013 price crash,” said Adrian Ash, head of research in London.

“Whether such patience and accumulation will be rewarded in 2014 remains to be seen. But in buying the dips like this, Western private investors are starting to track the behavior of Asia's traditionally strong gold-buying consumers more closely,” Ash said.

BullionVault noted that, by weight, customers have now bought back 60 per cent of the 1.2 tons sold during the April-June liquidation, taking aggregate gold holdings back above 32.5 tons.