Private investors do not believe that gold's bull run is about to end, according to a survey that found only 30pc predicting a price fall.
In the survey of 1,750 customers of Barclays Stockbrokers, 40pc of respondents said they expected the gold price to rise, while 20pc said predicted that the price would remain steady. Gold currently trades at about $1,050 an ounce – close to record levels set earlier this month.
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Thirty per cent of respondents said they expected the gold price to fall, while the remaining 10pc were undecided. The survey was conducted last week.
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Barbara-Ann King of Barclays Stockbrokers said: "The past nine months have seen the popularity of gold soar. The credit crisis triggered a flight to safety from investors and gold's perceived safety and lack of correlation with equities saw investors flock to it.
"Central governments around the world have already reacted by remarking that gold may become the reserve currency of choice over the dollar as its value drops compared to other safe havens. If the value of the dollar drops further there may be a reverse effect on the price of gold."
She added: "While it is encouraging to see our clients looking bullish in their outlook for the price of gold it is worth all investors bearing in mind that commodities like gold and the products that provide investment exposure to them can be volatile."
Not all commentators agree with Barclays' clients, however. Last week dealers at a bullion conference in Hong Kong said speculators were responsible for driving the price of gold to record levels, at the expense of demand from the jewellery sector. This made the price prone to a correction, the dealers said.
"Everybody knows there's no demand from the jewellery sector. It [the gold price] is too high now. No one wants to buy," Pawan Nawawattanasub, the chief executive of YLG Bullion International, a leading jewellery exporter in Thailand, told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference.
