Commodity Online
LONDON: Will gold prices shoot up in 2009? Yes, says a poll from the delegates who attended the London Bullion Market Association’s (LBMA) annual meeting in Kyoto.

The poll predicted that 2009 will see a significant rise in gold prices as more investors continue to seek safe haven investments. Jeremy Charles, chairman of the LBMA, told delegates that gold’s role as a safe haven asset has returned with a vengeance amid Wall Streets woes.

”High bullion prices are here to stay,” he said. His bullish comments came as many delegates said that they forecast gold prices reaching between $700 to $1,200 an ounce in 2009.

Charles, who is also head of precious metals at HSBC in London, said that investors were returning to gold as confidence in the US dollar and many other asset classes was shaky. He said that the change was likely to be a structural change, rather than a short-term phenomenon that will fade away with calmer markets.

Charles said ”Gold will be looked at in a different way even when the credit crisis ends."

Jonathan Spall, the head of commodities sales at Barclays Capital, said that the gold markets were witnessing a “sea change” as bullion was attracting new players, such as hedge funds who had previously considered gold as a relic from the past.

The bankers at the Kyoto meeting said that nervous investors were so concerned about the stability of the financial system that rather than simply just investing in gold as part of their job, they were placing their own physical money into gold, taking delivery of bullion and coins and effectively placing their investments outside of the financial system.