Gold Rally Fueled by Syria Conflict Escalation

Gold traders are the most bullish in five months as mounting concern about military action in Syria drove prices into bull market territory.

Twenty-three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect prices to rise next week, six were bearish and five neutral, the highest proportion of bulls since March 8. Hedge funds and other speculators have the biggest bet on higher prices in six months and holdings of metal in exchange-traded products expanded in the past two weeks, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Gold, down 27 percent from the record set two years ago after some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value, advanced 19 percent from a 34-month low in June as lower prices boosted demand for jewelry, bars and coins in Asia. Oil jumped to a two-year high this week as western nations debated their response to an alleged chemical-weapons attack in Syria, increasing concern that higher energy costs will slow economic growth and strengthening gold’s allure as a haven.

“It’s all fueled into the Syria crisis,” said James Moore, an analyst at FastMarkets Ltd. in London. “Oil’s been going up and adds to the inflationary concerns longer down the road and possibly that may feed into concern that high energy prices could derail growth. We’ve seen quite a big slowdown in the liquidation from the hot money that plowed into gold and which has now come out of it.”

Bloomberg

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