Goldman hikes gold price forecast on debasement fears and a weaker dollar

Gold last traded at $1,769 an ounce. Silver at $17.94 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: Precious metal prices rose Monday on safe-haven buying amid downbeat housing data and a weaker dollar. U.S. stocks traded mostly lower as investors assessed an uptick in coronavirus cases and the pace of the economic recovery.

CNBC---"Goldman Sachs analysts are backing gold to rally further on the back of debasement fears and a weakening dollar....in a note Friday, Goldman Sachs updated its three-, six- and 12-month gold price forecasts to $1800/1900/2000/oz from $1600/1650/1800/oz and maintained its long December 2020 gold trading recommendation. Goldman analysts attributed the recent indecision to a conflict between the negative 'wealth' shock to emerging market consumers and a positive 'fear-driven' investment demand in developed markets....Year-to-date gold coin demand is up 30%, total weight of gold in ETFs (exchange-traded funds) is up 20% year-on-year and there is a large amount of latent gold demand, Goldman's commodities researchers Jeff Currie, Mikhail Sprogis and Daniel Sharp highlighted....'Gold investment demand tends to grow into the early stage of the economic recovery, driven by continued debasement concerns and lower real rates,' the note said...Debasement refers to a depreciation in the value of a currency....HSBC Chief Precious Metals Analyst James Steele suggested in a note Friday that the broad economic recovery will inevitably weigh on gold, but the fundamental drivers of gold prices should be the low yield environment, substantial fiscal and monetary stimulus and the inflationary impact on asset prices."