Gold price target of $2,300 is conservative as precious metal sees healthy consolidation

Gold last traded at $1,823 an ounce. Silver at $26.947 an ounce.

NEWS SUMMARY: Precious metal prices held steady Thursday after disappointing jobs data weakened the dollar. U.S. stocks inched higher, led by the technology sector, as investors hoped to continue February's momentum.

State Street/Kitco---"The gold market remains in a healthy consolidation pattern as prices are once again close to testing critical resistance at $1,850 an ounce, according to one gold market analyst.

In a recent interview with Kitco News, George Milling-Stanley, chief gold strategist at State Street Global Advisors, said that he is not disappointed with gold's recent price action as the precious metal saw its first negative start to the year since 2013.

He added that gold's consolidation pattern is helping to remove some of the froth from the marketplace after gold prices pushed to record highs above $2,000 an ounce. He explained that last year gold prices rallied more than $500 an ounce to the new record, and it's going to take some time for the market to adjust to a new price paradigm....

'In North America and Western Europe, we are making a terrible go of reopening our economies. In my view, that means there's going to be no reduction, no drop-off in investment demand for gold,' he said.

Milling-Stanley explained that as long as the U.S. and global economies continue to feel the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, central banks will be in no hurry to raise interest rates. Low to negative real yields will continue to support gold prices, he said....

With all this uncertainty in the marketplace, Milling-Stanley said that he remains optimistic that gold prices can push to new highs this year. He added that estimates for prices to move to $2,300 could be considered as conservative in the current environment."