As gold rallies today towards $1,300 an ounce due to increased tensions between Russia and Ukraine, a weekly survey done by Kitco.com has the majority of experts predicting higher gold prices next week as well.
Of the 19 responding analysts, 12 are predicting higher prices for the yellow metal, 4 see it going down, and 3 see no change. According to the website, participants in the survey include bullion dealers, investment banks, futures traders, and technical chart analysts.
The main catalyst appears to be the renewed tensions between Ukraine and Russia, which is also renewing interest in gold as a safe-haven investment.
“Gold went ‘bid’ as soon as there was violence and death. A diplomatic and political standoff is enough to support gold, but it takes guns going off to propel it higher. It is anyone’s guess as to what happens in Ukraine, but with more violence gold will go higher and without it, steady to lower,” Frank Lesh, broker and futures analyst with FuturePath Trading, told Kitco.
A few participants were still bearish, believing that a war will not erupt because Europe will not want to put its Russian oil supply at risk.
The technical analysts were mostly predicting higher prices next week since the metal rallied off its technical support level of $1,265 an ounce.