Gold is set to log its fifth straight down quarter, for its longest quarterly losing streak since 1997. And one technical analyst says the precious metal isn't set to rebound anytime soon.
"The technicals go from bad to worse," Rich Ross of Evercore ISI said Thursday on CNBC's "Power Lunch." "I have no use for gold at these levels, and I would remain a seller here."
Ross points out that gold is a "so-called currency of fear," yet when the market slid viciously and the VIX surged, gold hardly budged.
Instead, gold remains in a "well-defined downtrend."
Looking at a longer-term chart, Ross says that the 100-week moving average (which is a simple average of the last 100 weekly closes) on the gold chart is very telling.
That indicator was "a buy signal" as gold was rising, and has been a good sell signal since, he said.
"Quite simply, I would not buy gold unless it can get back above that 100-week moving average. It's at $1,236 right now, [so] that would be a heroic move," given that gold settled Thursday at about $1,100 per troy ounce.
"Let's be real—gold's going to $1,000, and there's nothing in either the short- or long-term chart that tells me otherwise."
But Societe Generale strategist Larry McDonald countered that many technicians were very bearish on gold at the end of 2014, but the precious metal managed to bounce nicely in January.
Of course, gold nonetheless finished the first quarter lower, and has proven one of the very worst bets over the past several years.
