The Investment Bank Tipping Gold to Hit $1,400 – by Swansy Afonso (Bloomberg News – August 14, 2017)

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Gold prices are set to jump to a four-year high of $1,400 an ounce by the end of the year over mounting tensions between North Korea and the U.S., and surging demand in the world’s biggest consumers, according to the head of precious metals at a Russian investment bank.

Bullion could rise to $1,360 within three months before climbing higher, fueled by global political risks and buying from China and India, said Evgeny Ananiev at VTB Capital JSC, the investment-banking unit of Russia’s second-largest lender VTB Group. “We may see some correction, but I don’t think gold will drop below $1,200 as it’s well supported,” he said in a weekend interview in Goa. The metal traded at $1,281.86 on Monday.

Prices have climbed 12 percent this year, driven by worries over a potential nuclear conflict between the U.S. and North Korea, and subdued inflation in the U.S., which is cooling chances of a further increase in interest rates.

President Donald Trump has intensified warnings to North Korea, promising a massive response to any strike against the U.S. or its allies. Hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio recommends investors place 5 to 10 percent of their assets in gold.

The upbeat sentiment was shared by other participants at the conference. “Fundamentally, we have been very bullish on the market,” said Chirag Sheth, an analyst at Metals Focus Ltd., an independent precious-metals research firm based in London.

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