Gold price settles at $1,200 per ounce

United Arab Emirates (Dec 29)  The year 2013 hasn’t been good for the price of the yellow metal, with gold price set to witness its worst plunge in 30 years by the time this year gets over in a couple of days. Bullion which started this year at around the $1,700 per ounce levels will do well if it manages to remain above $1,200/oz on Tuesday, December 31, 2013.

Even that level will mean that gold will be down about 28 per cent from since the beginning of the year. Spot gold price recovered from a low of $1,187 per ounce on Thursday, December 19, to end last week at $1,205/oz, reflecting the investor community’s faith in the yellow metal.

Interestingly, analysts still remain split on the direction of gold price in 2014, with guestimates ranging between $900/oz and $1,500/oz. “I believe 2014 will be a year of consolidation following a dramatic slump at the end of a 12-year bull market. We could see some additional weakness during the first quarter as the taper theme and some potential dollar strength erode support but later in the year, gold could well recover as some of the negative drivers fade and finish up on the year,” said analyst Ole Hansen.