As more investors sounded bearish notes about the yellow metal, on April 12, the spot price of gold sank below $1,500—its lowest level since July 2011.
At one point, the metal’s price reached $1,494. At press time, gold had again crossed the $1,500 mark and was trading at $1,506 an ounce.
The April 12 price crash was particularly steep, with the metal falling $58, a 2.76 percent drop, according to goldprice.org. In the last six months, it has lost 11 percent of its value; in the last year, 5.71 percent, the site says.
Gold’s ongoing decline—following more than a decade of unprecedented growth—is leading some economists to trim their forecasts.
On April 10, Goldman Sachs reportedly trimmed its 2013 gold price prediction. The investment bank now sees gold sinking to $1,450 by the end of the year—significantly lower than its original target of $1,600. It also sees gold falling to $1,270 by the end of 2014.
Analysts attributed gold’s decline to growing confidence in the economy and decreasing fears about inflation.
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