The price of gold has dropped 8.5 percent over the past six months, and Credit Suisse analysts think the decline will continue next year.
The precious metal's price will fall to $950 an ounce by the end of 2015, they predict in a commentary obtained by MarketWatch.
That would represent a 20 percent slide from Friday's $1,185.60 settlement price for December contracts on the Comex. The price hit a four-year low of $1,130.40 recently.
Gold has suffered from speculation that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates around mid-2015 and from the continued quiescence of inflation. Consumer prices rose only 1.7 percent in the 12 months through September.
The Credit Suisse report notes that despite its decline from 2011's record of $1,923.70, gold remains well above historical price levels. Carrying costs will become more onerous as U.S. interest rates begin to rise, the Credit Suisse analysts say.
They see the S&P 500 index rising to 2,200 by mid-year, but then falling back over the next six months amid interest-rate increases by the Federal Reserve. It stood at 2,038 Friday afternoon.
As for gold, CNBC commentator Ron Insana is even more bearish. "If I were a betting man, and sometimes I am, the long-term chart of gold suggests that the old high in gold of $800 an ounce, could be its new low," he writes on CNBC.com.
"In the absence of a full-scale geopolitical crisis, economic collapse, or other 'black swan' event, there is no good reason to hold gold."
The metal's bearish fundamentals include low inflation, a strong dollar and a buoyant stock market, Insana says.
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