Calls for Gold Prices to Reach All-Time Highs of $2,500

Gold prices are on track to rally to all-time highs in 2024 on the back of tapering interest rates, and looming recessionary fears that elevate its role as a safe haven asset.

Spot gold prices hit a record intraday high of $2,072.5 on Aug. 7, 2020, according to data from Refinitiv. Analysts who spoke to CNBC say they could surpass that level and push beyond the record.

“I do see gold move above $2,100 in late 2023, early 2024 as a trading level,” said TD Securities’ managing director and global head of commodity strategy, Bart Melek, attributing his optimism to a potential pause in the U.S. Federal Reserve tightening cycle.

“I am positive on gold as I believe that the Fed will tilt policy away from its current restrictive mode. This I believe will happen before the 2% inflation target is reached,” Melek told CNBC in an email.

Spot gold was last trading at $1,912.26 per ounce.

The Fed began its steady stream of rate hikes in March 2022, as inflation climbed to its highest in 40 years. In less than two years, it has raised borrowing costs to between 5.25% to 5.5%.

Gold has outperformed most other major asset classes in the past 12 months, Melek wrote in a recent report, attributing it to the yellow metal’s ability to resist rising interest rates and its value as a safe bet against inflation.

Some analysts are particularly bullish on gold, and have called for a target of $2,500 by the end of next year — that’s more than 26% higher than current levels.

“My target is $2,500 by the end of 2024 … Much of this has to do with the fact that recessionary forces may take hold beginning later this year and gain steam in 2024,” said David Neuhauser, founder of Livermore Partners. “2024 is when I see gold breaking out and reaching new highs and beyond.”

Neuhauser said he expects stagflation to persist in the global economy for the next few years as inflation falls to between 3% to 5%.