FRENCH BANK BNP Paribas today became the latest big bank to slash its 2013 gold price forecast.

After Goldman Sachs cut its end-2013 prediction to $1800 per ounce in December, analysts at Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and HSBC have also cut $100 or more from their 2013 targets.

"We retain our positive view of gold in the coming months," said BNP Paribas latest precious metals analysis Friday, "but the chances of the metal peaking earlier than we had initially assumed have risen."

Cutting its silver price forecast by almost $5 to $34.10 per ounce, BNP expects the Gold Price to average $1790 per ounce in 2013, down from its previous estimate of $1865.

At the end of 2011 – the year gold hit a peak above $1900 per ounce – the French bank cut its 2012 and 2013 forecasts sharply, down from $2025 to $1775 and from $2280 to $2125 respectively.

The price of gold last year averaged $1669 per ounce.

The average forecast by analysts entering this year's London Bullion Market Association competition is $1735 – slightly below last year's average LBMA forecast of £$1766.

The Association's winning gold forecaster in 2012, René Hochreiter of Allan Hochreiter Pty, now believes the Gold Price will fall to average just $1600 per ounce in 2013.