Outlook for precious metals remains bright - Emirates Business 24|7

Bullion gleams but the outlook for base metals is lacklustre, says Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
By:Shashank Shekhar

The outlook for base metals looks lacklustre but for bullion it remains bright, according to the Global Commodity Research team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML).

The group held to its forecast that the price of gold will rise above $1,500 (Dh5,510) an ounce in the medium term. This follows new estimates that even a $1 trillion bailout package for Greece may not be enough.

The investment bank said that the price of aluminium will average $2,275 a tonne and that of copper $7,275 a tonne this year. Lead, nickel and zinc will average $2,300 a tonne, $20,950 a tonne and $2,325 a tonne, respectively, the BofAML analysts said. The precious metals had a better outlook. While gold is expected to average $1,100 an ounce this year, silver is expected to average $17.6 an ounce. Platinum and palladium are expected to average $1,750 an ounce and $500 an ounce, respectively. In 2011, the estimated price of aluminium ($2,100) and nickel ($20,000) are expected to fall as compared to 2010, analysts said. On the other hand, all the precious metals – gold, silver, platinum and palladium – are expected to be more costly next year, BofAML data showed.

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