Can Gold Continue Its Bull-ion Run?
Gold prices are expected to rally further in the medium term, forecasts Jim Copland, mining analyst at Macquarie Funds Group, as the precious metal racked up its eighth consecutive quarterly gain.
"There are underlying factors in place which can continue to support gold prices at these current healthy levels and also to spike higher," Copland said on CNBC Friday.
Spot gold added $3.00 an ounce to $1,308.25 on Friday, after hitting an all-time high around $1,315 an ounce the previous day.
Copland outlined two drivers for his bullish outlook: the potential for additional quantitative easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve and anemic economic growth in the Western world.
While he recognizes that gold has priced in expectations of further loosening of monetary policy by the U.S. central bank, he says there is "sufficient uncertainty" to draw investors towards the safe-haven yellow metal.
He added that "continued pressure" on currencies is another dominant factor contributing to the appreciating price of the commodity.
Hans Goetti, chief investment officer, Asia at Finaport , shares a similar view: "If you have...a lower dollar, and of course other central banks doing the same thing, trying to devalue their currencies, you're left with the only currency that you cannot print which is gold...there's a lot more upside potential there," said.
"Gold is an insurance against currency debasement," added Goetti.
Copland believes the best way to gain exposure to the precious metal is through equities. "There's been a lot of money invested in exploration and the real growth is (not) coming from...higher prices going forward, but from exploration success," he said.
Juerg Kiener, chief investment officer and managing director of Swiss Asia Capital, projects that gold will hit $2500 an ounce in the next two years. Supply as well as output constraints along with the rising demand from emerging markets will lift prices even further in the next 24 months, he added.