“Just as the monetary indicators are turning positive [for gold],” said HSBC in a report Thursday, “physical demand – a mainstay of the market through the summer – is turning less supportive.”

Reuters today notes a sharp fall this week in Asian premiums for physical gold, over and above benchmark London prices.

Hong Kong premiums fell to $1.50 per ounce from $2.50, the newswire says. Tokyo gold went to a slight discount to London settlement.

“There has only been investment buying because of the Fed decision,” says Hong Kong dealer Ronald Leung at Lee Cheong Gold. “There is no physical interest” from jewelry stockists.