Gold Now in a Long Bull Market, Analysts Say

Gold is glittering, and that has analysts making a bull call on the precious metal.

“We’re recommending our clients to position for a new and very long bull market for gold,” said Solita Marcelli of JPMorgan Private Bank on CNBC’s “Futures Now” Tuesday.

The precious metal has shot up more than 20% so far this year vs. a 1.2% gain for the S&P 500.

Like DoubleLine Funds CEO Jeffrey Gundlach, Marcelli said a price of $1,400 “is very much in the cards this year.”

With negative interest rate policies in several parts of the world, gold is likely to remain attractive as an alternative currency, she says. Plus, investors are looking for a hedge against the related volatility, making the metal attractive as a continued “safe-haven trade.”

“Central banks may consider diversifying their reserves [as they anticipate] negative rates on existing holdings,” said JPMorgan’s global head of fixed income, currencies and commodities. “Gold is a great portfolio hedge in an environment where the world government bonds are yielding at historically low levels.”

“Gold is looking more and more attractive every single day,” she said. “As a non-yielding asset, it has a minimal storage cost, so when you compare it to negative-yielding assets, it actually has a positive carry.”