Analysts Predict That Gold Has Enough Force To Move Above $2,000 An Ounce

Gold has seen colossal momentum so far this year, enabling the metal to pick up generally 20% since January

Gold has enjoyed tremendous momentum so far this year, allowing the metal to gain roughly 20% since January. The strength of its drivers became especially prominent this summer, when gold climbed above six-year highs during what is normally its weakest quarter.

Although gold continues to make moves above $1,530 an ounce and many analysts have upgraded their near-term forecast to $1,600 an ounce, a MarketWatch article reports others are seeing $2,000 as a more realistic level in gold's immediate future.

In a recent publication, Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter, drew a line between what he sees as short- and long-term factors powering gold's remarkable run. The former category includes the now-infamous U.S.-China trade war, whose ongoing escalation has sparked fears that the dispute will bear a heavy toll on the global economy, sending investors flocking towards safe-havens.

According to MarketWatch, other short-term boosters include renewed threats of a recession occurring in the U.S., which were present throughout the Federal Reserve's hiking schedule but came to special prominence due to the recent inversion of the yield curve in both the 2-year and 10-year Treasuries. The likelihood of successive rate cuts by the Fed and persistent weakness in global economic data reports have also played their role as gold's near-term tailwinds. Deric Scott, vice president and senior analyst at precious-metals retailer Metals.com, has also pointed to conflict in Hong Kong and Iran as two events that have been pushing investors towards safety.

Yet both Lundin and Stan Bharti, chief executive officer of private merchant bank Forbes & Manhattan, believe that there is a much stronger force driving gold's prices, which will ultimately result in gold surpassing its all-time highs. In the MarketWatch article, Bharti notes the last 8-10 years have seen investors jump onto the bullish bandwagon in the stock market in a low-interest environment. Yet Bharti thinks that this era is drawing to a close, and that inflationary concerns will once again drive investors back to hard assets.

Lundin also sees the likeliness of heightened inflation as a key element to higher gold prices, as gold has historically acted as the premier hedge against depreciating currencies. The analyst thinks that any indication of quantitative easing (QE) in the U.S. would send gold soaring. Recently, both the Fed and the European Central Bank have hinted towards looser monetary policies in the near future, including a possible return to QE programs.

Over the short-term, Bharti sees gold jumping from its current levels to reach $1,600 in the next quarter. By the end of next year, the CEO expects gold prices to climb above $2,000 an ounce. Lundin echoed Bharti's sentiment, stating that gold's climb to $1,800 or $2,000 is a near-certainty over a longer stretch of time.