Trump, Stock Reversal & Uncertainty Make For Higher Gold - Weekly Gold Survey
By Sarah Benali of Kitco NewsFriday February 17, 2017 14:04
Wall Street
VS
Main Street
(Kitco News) - Despite gold’s weakness Friday, both Wall St. and Main St. are expecting higher prices for the metal during the shortened trading week, this according to results from Kitco News’ latest Gold Survey.
Seventeen traders and analysts took part in a weekly Wall Street survey. 10 voters, or 59%, see gold prices rising by next Friday. Four, or 24%, said they see prices headed lower, while three voters, or 17%, look for a sideways market.
Meanwhile, 1,988 respondents took part in a Main Street online survey. A total of 1,263 participants, or 64%, are calling for gold to rise, while 462, or 23%, see lower prices. The remaining 263 voters, or 13%, are neutral.
In last Friday’s survey, 56% of Wall Street voters and 55% of Main Street participants called for gold prices to increase in the current week. Around 1:31 P.M. EST, they were right, as Comex April gold was up 0.4% for the week trading at $1,239.20 an ounce. April gold is up 7.6% so far in 2017.
“Gold prices of late have been testing support just under the market, if you will, preparing for a healthy rally into higher territory,” noted Jeffrey Nichols, senior economic advisor at Rosland Capital and managing director at American Precious Metals Advisors -- a sentiment shared among other Wall St. experts surveyed.
“Hedge funds and institutional speculators have been trading the recent range, buying on dips and selling on rallies, a behavioral pattern we expect will continue except within a somewhat higher range,” he added.
Richard Baker, editor of the Eureka Miner Report, said he is looking at $1,250 an ounce as his next upside target for gold, while Ken Morrison, editor of the newsletter Morrison on the Markets, said he could see the metal push up to $1,260.
“It helped gold that the dollar quickly retreated from its mid-week rally and, despite President Trump's insistence of 'fine-tuned machine', there continues to be numerous signs his main policy agenda such as health care, tax-reform, and trade are not as certain as has been perceived,” Morrison explained.
For RJO Futures’ Phil Streible, a possible correction in U.S. equities’ record-breaking run as well as uncertainty in Europe will work in gold’s favor next week.
However, not all analysts had such a strong conviction towards the yellow metal.
Kitco Metals’ global trading director Peter Hug said he needs to see gold close above $1,242 an ounce before he is convinced it is headed higher.
By Sarah Benali of Kitco News; sbenali@kitco.com
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