Rather interestingly, Credit Suisse slashed it’s 2012 price forecasts for gold and silver today along with other precious metals and grain prices. Credit Suisse cites remarkably resilient global output and a slower pace of global growth.
Credit Suisse slashed its price of silver forecast to $32.80 per troy ounce from $33.70 for 2012, adding that the metal should perform well, benefiting from both a rising price of gold and an improvement in appetite for risk.
The brokerage also slashed its price forecast for gold to $1,755 per troy ounce from $1,850 while maintaining its bullish view, saying the precious metal has recovered from its end 2011 corrections and is likely to return to its long standing upward price trend. It also lowered platinum price forecasts for 2012 by $205 to $1,570 per troy ounce and palladium by $16 to $755 per troy ounce.
Among base metals, the brokerage firm reduced its price forecasts for aluminium by $85 to $2,425 per tonne, zinc by $115 to $2,075 per tonne, and lead by $117 to $2,213 per tonne, while leaving it’s copper, nickel and tin forecasts unchanged.
Credit Suisse also lowered its price forecasts for corn, soybeans and wheat, blaming increased production, tight fundamentals, particularly for corn, and a weaker demand.
The brokerage firm expects Chicago Board of Trade CBOT.L corn to average $5.90 per bushel versus $6.80 earlier.
For CBOT soybeans, the brokerage adjusted its 2012 price forecast to $12.31 per bushel from its previous forecast of $13.55.
“We note, however, that given still tight inventory cover for corn, and to a lesser extent soy beans, the grains complex remains highly sensitive to further supply disruptions, with the current La Niña weather pattern suggesting that the risk is greater than average,” Credit Suisse said in a research note.
The brokerage firm also lowered its CBOT wheat price forecast to $6.25 per bushel from $6.90 for 2012, citing higher U.S. and global stock projections.
Source: Credit Suisse Cuts Gold, Silver Price Forecasts (Reuters India)
