Wall Street sentiment regarding gold’s price trajectory is shifting to the upside in considerable fashion, joining the already-optimistic Main Street traders. The Kitco gold price survey from last week showed 69.2% of Wall Street analysts surveyed expecting prices to move higher this week. No bearish votes were cast, with the remaining 30.8% predicted a neutral or sideways-only price movement.

Main Street was a bit more evenly spread, though still heavily favoring the upside. Nearly half of retail investors surveyed (49.6%) forecast higher prices this week, while 25.8% were bearish and 24.6% were neutral.

Despite little price action last week, analysts generally agree that a move to the $1,750 support level will be met with a strong correction, while a breach of the $1,800 level will continue to establish new highs for the metal.

Specific analyst commentary on gold in the short term

Marc Chandler, managing director at Global Forex, views a scenario where gold touches $1,750 before bouncing to the $1,800-1,815 range this week as the likeliest.

Kitco’s senior analyst Jim Wyckoff also finds the range important, noting that a move above $1,800 would set the trend for prices to go higher.

RJO Futures senior commodities broker Daniel Pavilonis is especially focused on a close above the $1,820 level. If it happens, Pavilonis thinks the market could be in for some explosive price action. Besides gold finding consistent support above the 200-day moving average, Pavilonis also said that the latest bout of strength in the U.S. dollar appears to be exhausting.

Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management, is also notably bullish on gold. Cieszynski pointed to strong technicals as a reason to believe that gold might be getting ready to break out from the aforementioned range and continue moving up.

How is recent news affecting gold?

In general, the lack of any notable rise in gold price has been attributed to mixed signals from the Federal Reserve and corresponding data. The dollar continues to hold ground amid both peak inflationary expectations and rising inflation across the board. The latest data reports were likewise a mixed bag, with better-than-expected U.S. non-farm payrolls being met with a rise in unemployment.

The data still fell short of optimistic forecasts, however, and both Treasury yields and the greenback fell after the report. Analysts also noted that a lower trading volume on Monday due to the 4th of July holiday in the U.S. could result in some additional delays before gold finds a spot above $1,800.

Short-term vs. long-term views

Although analysts do enjoy attempts to predict the future, if you don’t work in the financial news industry, you’re probably better off keeping your eye on the horizon. When you look at gold’s performance over time, that’s when it really begins to shine.