Last week, gold prices ended near a five-month low, at $1889.5 per ounce. December gold futures settled at $1,918.20 per ounce, down 1.4% from the previous week. This is the fourth week in a row that the price of this precious metal has fallen. There are growing concerns that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will keep interest rates high for a longer period of time, putting pressure on gold prices in the near term.
Kitco News ' gold price survey of 16 Wall Street analysts found 9 people (63%) forecast gold prices to fall next week. Meanwhile, only 2 analysts (13%) think the price will increase and 4 experts (25%) say the price will move sideways.
For retail investors, out of more than 940 respondents, the ratio of predicting gold prices to rise and fall is approximately the same, with 44% expecting the price to go up while 41% predict the opposite. Only 140 people, or 15%, have a neutral opinion.
On Thursday, US bond yields rose to a new 15-year high. Ed Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA said that high yields pose a significant setback for gold. "There will be a time when gold is attractive again, but now is not the time," he said.
However, Moya maintains a neutral view on gold prices for the week as he thinks bond yields may be close to peaking and gold selling seems to be slowing down. "To maintain the selling pressure on gold, global bond yields may need to move higher," he said.
Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades, said that gold prices will fall next week because the ability of the Fed to maintain high interest rates for a long time will support the USD and disadvantage the precious metal. He forecast gold prices are likely to continue to come under pressure, with the next key support at $1,875 per ounce.
Adrian Day, President of Adrian Day Asset Management, expects gold prices to move higher in the next few months, but believes that short-term downside should not be ignored. "I think we'll see a drop in gold prices, but that won't change the long-term outlook," he said.
On August 25, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will speak at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. James Stanley, market strategist at Stone X, expects Mr. Powell to offer a neutral stance on interest rates during the event. However, this outlook still hardly shakes the possibility of gold devaluation. “I remain bearish as spot gold has slipped a lot this week at $1,900,” he said.
Phien An ( according to Kitco )
