— This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on January 7, Tuesday.
Hello and welcome to the CNBC Business Daily. I'm Li Sixuan at the Singapore Exchange.
Gold extended its New Year rally and saw prices push near 3-week highs.They have gained nearly 4 percent since the start of the year but there is still a long way to go to recoup the 28 percent loss that gold suffered last year. For now, there are supportive signs that suggest the rebound in gold prices could continue.
Physical demand from top buyers China and India looked robust. And a technical analysis of the gold chart indicates an upwards bias for the price.
Still, several experts that CNBC spoke to are divided on the issue:
[Soundbyte on tape by Warren Gilman, Chairman & CEO, CEF Holdings] No, I don't think that it's got a new lease of life. This is a short-covering rally. It might be good for the rest of the week, then continue to see selldown. I'm one of those short term bears that does see a test down to certainly $1,100, maybe $1,000 sometime this year. We have to embrace the taper. Janet Yellen's job is to bring in the taper and gold has to embrace that and it has to be reflected in the price of gold. We can't fear it, it's coming and that's going to the headwind for gold in 2014.
[Soundbyte on tape by Andrew Su, CEO, Compass Global Markets] 2014, it'll come back. I think it's headed towards $1,500 average for the year. I think we've seen the bottom. It's tried a few times to break below $1,180, which happens to be the average production cost of gold around the world. I think that's a very strong technical sign that it'll rise higher and we've already seen that bounce in the new year. I think what we'll also see is its "safe haven" status come back into play. I think both it and the USD will rise in value this year.
[Soundbyte on tape by Andrew Dale, Specialist Sales, Global Natural Resources, Macquarie Securities] Last year's massive underperformance, not only of gold, but the equities themselves, which underperformed even more, has made it a very complicated trade for many people. You gotta get in there and really convince people now to get into the gold trade. There are some things emerging that make it look a little more interesting in terms of the China financials story and inflation, but still, ETFs are still selling and there's still going to be a bit of downward pressure on gold.
Thanks for watching the CNBC Business Daily. I'm Li Sixuan at the Singapore Exchange.
Follow us on Twitter: @CNBCWorld
