Gold prices hit all-time highs in recent days as bond yields continue to decline from October peaks.
Spot gold hit an all-time high on Monday, touching $2,135.39 per ounce before falling to trade around $2,027 by midday. Gold futures (GC=F) also hit an intraday high of $2,152.30 on Sunday before sinking 2% on Monday.
"I think gold is in the early days of a bull market breaking out to new highs," Mike McGlone, Bloomberg Intelligence senior macro strategist, told Yahoo Finance.
The precious metal is seen as a safe-haven asset during times of uncertainty. Its rise in price comes amid declining 10-year Treasury yields as the market anticipates the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates next year. Lower longer-term yields typically prompt investors to ditch bonds in favor of the precious metal.
Michele Schneider, partner and director of trading education and research at MarketGauge.com, told Yahoo Finance last month that she thought gold could hit $3,000, noting that it has held up "in the face of a stable dollar and higher rates."
However, not all analysts are as bullish.
"Lower interest rates, due to investor hopes for Fed rate cuts in 2024, and a weaker US dollar provided some support over the last eight weeks," Rob Haworth, senior investment strategy director at US Bank Asset Management Group, told Yahoo Finance.
He added, "A key question for bullish gold investors is whether these trends can be sustained. A still-growing US economy and few signs the Fed is close to considering interest rate cuts are likely to temper near-term enthusiasm for gold."
On Monday Opimus CEO Octavio Marenzi cautioned investors against chasing the upward pop on gold and other asset classes.
"The biggest mistake is sort of chasing the market and [being] a day late into getting the hot investment classes after they've had a big rally and a big pop," Marenzi told Yahoo Finance Live.
Central banks have been among the biggest gold buyers in the last couple of years, with a record-breaking first half of 2023.
Global official gold reserves are 120% higher quarter over quarter and boast the second-highest third quarter total since the industry group World Gold Council started publishing the quarterly metric.
China is the largest buyer, followed by Poland and Singapore.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre.
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