04/06/07: Experts believe gold will continue its run

Most industry experts believe that gold will continue to gain for a second week in a row, research from Bloomberg indicates.

The financial news and data firm questioned 32 investors, traders and analysts from around the world on May 31 and June 1, and found that 22 advised buying the precious metal.

A further two said sell, while eight were neutral.

The primary reason for the experts' bullish expectations appears to be speculation that the sale of gold from central banks will slow down.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has said that it will not sell any more gold until late September at the earliest, having sold some 60 tons since September 2006.

Further, the banks of the Central Bank Gold Agreement - of which the ECB is one - have agreed that they will not sell more than 500 tons a year.

Last week gold rose by 2.3 per cent on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division, to $676.90.

However, some are predicting a halt to gold's recent rise.

In a report seen by Business Day, James Steel of HSBC said: "The most recent economic data implied that the US economy is strengthening, and so interest rates may remain firm and partially deter the gold rally."