Poll: Analysts See More Upside For Gold, Silver

Gold and silver have been strong performers so far in 2016 after several years of slumping prices. A new Reuters poll of 30 analysts indicates that experts believe that the 2016 rally has legs.

The average 2016 price target for gold among the analysts polled was $1,209/oz, up from $1,118/oz in a similar poll taken in January. Gold was trading at $1,264/oz in Thursday’s session.

Looking ahead to 2017, analysts expect gold to average $1,300/oz, implying that the early 2016 rally still has some upside remaining.

"The chief supportive factors are the shift in Fed stance, the weaker dollar and the prospect of inflation,” Macquarie analyst Matthew Turner explains.

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Analysts also see more upside to silver, predicting an average 2017 price of $16.50. There has been a surge in the gold/silver ratio in the past few years. If the divergence regresses to historical norms, silver could be poised to outperform gold in the near future.

Silver-backed ETFs have seen surging investor demand so far this year and have increased their physical holdings by more than 1,200 tons since the beginning of March.

So far this year the SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) GLD is up 4.8 percent and the iShares Silver Trust (ETF) SLV is up 6.4 percent.

Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.