With the coronavirus continuing to spread, gold has been getting a lift lately, even as stocks continue to target fresh highs. Now some analysts and banks are revising their targets on the precious metal.
With prices holding above $1,600 an ounce, major U.S. bank Citigroup is reversing its projections for the year, stating that it anticipates gold will hit $1,700 in the next six to 12 months and $2,000 in the next 12 to 24 months.
“Gold should perform as a convex macro asset market hedge, resilient during ongoing risk market rallies but a better hedge during sell-offs and vol spikes,” Citi’s analysts led by Ed Morse wrote.
The shiny metal is also likely to benefit from the coronavirus’ economic waste as the precious metals can “outperform on a risk market unwind should coronavirus risks impact supply chains and thus U.S. earnings momentum,” Morse pointed out.
While gold has been a traditional safe haven asset along with Treasurys, analyst Michael Gayed also sees gold continue it’s recent run, adding that one benefit to investors is that the metal is a non-correlated asset.
“Gold really is a non-correlated asset. It doesn’t really move to stocks. It doesn’t really move to bonds. It’s kind of its own anumal. And from an asset allocation perspective, if you’re concerned about what’s gonna happen to your investments going forward, you want more diversification, which means you want more non-correlated assets. And gold absolutely fits the bill in that case,” Gayed explained.
April gold futures are holding their gains today, last trading near $1,607 as of roughly 2:15 EST, up 0.40% on the day.
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