(Kitco News) - Wall Street and Main Street remain bullish on gold’s short-term prospects, based on voting in the weekly Kitco News gold survey.
Wall Street
71%
14%VS
Main Street
65%27%Fourteen professionals took part in a Kitco News Wall Street survey. Ten voters, or 71%, see gold prices rising by the end of next week. There were two votes each, or 14%, for both lower and sideways.
The Kitco online Main Street poll resulted in 687 votes, with 444 participants, or 65%, calling for gold to climb over the next week. Another 183 voters, or 27%, said that gold will fall, while 60, or 9%, were neutral.
In last Friday's survey for the current week, 72% of Wall Street voters and 58% of Main Street called for gold to rise this week. As of 11:07 a.m. EDT, they were right, with Comex August gold up 0.9% the week to $1,265.90 an ounce.
So far in 2017, but not counting the current week, Wall Street forecasters collectively were right 18 of 28 times for a winning percentage of 64%. Main Street was right 17 of 27 times for 63%.
“Gold is buoyant; gold is resilient,” said Richard Baker, editor of the Eureka Miner Report. He suggested Friday’s report on U.S. gross domestic product may mean a more dovish Federal Reserve stance on monetary policy.
“This is bullish for gold, allied by White House turmoil and uncertainty created by the early-morning collapse of the ACA [Affordable Care Act] repeal,” Baker said. “The Russian ouster of hundreds of U.S. staff in response to tighter sanctions adds a new geopolitical dimension. The combination of these drivers should bring the yellow metal to the $1,280 level next week.”
Phil Flynn, senior market analyst with at Price Futures Group, also looks for the rally to continue.
“It seems like the dollar continues to see some weakness that we think could be extended into the new week….Demand for physical gold seems to be bouncing and supplies are tightening,” Flynn said. “There is also a sharp increase in geopolitical risk.”
Jim Wyckoff, senior technical analyst with Kitco, said “higher as [the] price uptrend on daily chart remains in place.”
Bob Haberkorn, senior commodities broker with RJO Futures, looks for gold to give back some of its recent strength in the short term, particularly since U.S. economic data “hasn’t been that bad.” After a correction, he then looks for gold to be largely range-bound for the remainder of the summer.
“I think next week we’ll see some downside – profit taking,” Haberkorn said. “People are looking for some entry points but at lower levels.”
Kevin Grady, president of Phoenix Futures and Options LLC, described himself as neutral for next week.
“It still looks like rallies are still being sold,” he said. Conversely, he added, “We have also seen a lot of shorts [bearish traders] exiting the market at current levels.”
Societe Generale metals analyst Robin Bhar said gold will be "probably tracking sideways next week, consolidating recent gains that we’ve seen. With summer period upon us and trading volumes lower, [there may not be] not much impetus to move either up or down.”
Here is a sampling of thoughts from Kitco Main Street voters on Kitco’s commenting Kitco Chat:
