Ten of 17 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, or 59 percent, said bullion would rise next week. Five forecast lower prices and two were neutral. Gold for delivery in April was up 2.3 percent for this week at $1,126.60 an ounce at 12:46 p.m. in New York yesterday.
The Federal Reserve this week left the federal funds rate target for overnight loans between banks in a range of zero to 0.25 percent, where it’s been since December 2008, and pledged to keep rates “exceptionally low” for an “extended period.” Gold climbed 24 percent last year as central banks maintained low interest rates and spent trillions to stimulate economies.
The Fed decision “will keep the pressure off the dollar from rising in the intermediate term, giving gold room on the upside,” said , an investor in Summit, New Jersey, and a former precious-metals trader for Mitsubishi International Corp.
The red bars on the attached chart are derived by subtracting bearish forecasts from bullish estimates, with readings below zero signaling that most respondents expect a decline. The green line shows the gold price. The data shown are as of March 12.
The weekly gold survey has forecast prices accurately in 174 of 303 weeks, or 57 percent of the time.
