Gold Price Hits Highest Level in 2.5 Weeks

Ever since the US Federal Reserve announced plans to hike interest rates for the second time in three months, the gold price has been reaping the benefits.
Over the span of five days, the yellow metal has risen above the $1,200-per-ounce mark, gaining 2.74 percent since March 15. By Monday (March 20), gold futures for April delivery had settled at $1,234, the highest finish since March 1.
Commenting on gold’s continued strength, Ilya Spivak, currency and metals analyst at DailyFX, told MarketWatch that the metal’s Monday rally “seemed to reflect lingering reverberations from the [Fed] rate decision. The central bank raised rates as widely expected, but offered nothing to propel the hawkish narrative beyond status-quo projections.”
The gold price has also been bolstered by a weak US dollar and the UK’s preparations to leave the European Union. BullionVault notes that the deadline for the UK to make its exit is March 29, 2019.

Given those and other positive signals, many analysts are bullish on gold, and are calling for it to continue to move higher throughout the year.
Nitesh Shah, director, economist and commodity strategist at ETF Securities, told CNBC that he sees gold reaching $1,300 by mid-year. “We expect gold to rise to $1,300 per ounce  by mid-year before declining back to current levels by year-end,” he told the news outlet. “A dovish Fed will be met by inflation surprises over the coming quarter, which will lead to further decline in real interest rates.
Similarly, Keith Weiner of Monetary Metals believes it won’t be long until the yellow metal reaches $1,400.
Other market watchers aren’t quite so bullish on gold. For example, its its March 2016 commodities forecast, FocusEconomics suggests that rising interest rates in the US will “limit price gains.” Its panel projects that gold will average a more modest $1,253 in the final quarter of 2017.
Overall, however, it appears that the broad consensus is that gold will rise in 2017 — the question is by how much.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.