Analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. led by Jeffrey Currie have increase their price estimates for gold, cheering that the yellow metal over the next 12 months time will scale to a level of $1,425 per ounce- the price not recorded in more than 5 years. The fears around recession hitting the US have raised the demand for the metal from investors who seek to bet on defensive assets in their portfolio. Further, uncertain geo-political environment has also triggered its demand from the central bank.

There has been registered an increase in the base of bullion-backed ETFs, which have risen to the highest level since May. Speculative interest in the yellow metal provides an insight that not only investors are ending their bearish position but also adding to bullish positions, said analyst at Standard Chartered in a note.

Also, gold is regaining its sheen on heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve will pause its rate tightening cycle, thus providing boost to the non-interest bearing bullion.
"We expect the safe-haven bid, and to a lesser extent, gold's inflation hedge properties, to remain key drivers of the metal's price in 2019, complemented by a resurgence of physical demand,'' Cantor Fitzgerald analysts led by Mike Kozak said in a report.

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