Gold dropped 0.4% to $1,771 in early afternoon trading, after UBS told investors to rethink their bullion holdings as the global economy recovers and the dollar strengthens into next year, according to Bloomberg.
“The message must be: if you have a tactical position, get out; if you have a strategic position, hedge it,” Dominic Schnider, head of commodities and Asia Pacific foreign exchange at UBS Global Wealth Management CIO Office, was quoted as saying.
Gold could drop closer to $1,600, while silver may fall to $22 or lower, Schnider told Bloomberg TV an interview.
But other brokers are more optimistic, according to Bloomberg, with Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) forecasting that prices will hit $2,000 toward the end of the year on the back of increased consumer and central-bank purchasing. Goldman is also retaining its $30 price target for silver.