LBMA’s Best Gold Forecaster Hochreiter Says Bull Market Over

Gold’s 12-year bull market is over as U.S. economic growth means investors will switch focus to precious metals that benefit from expansion, the top forecaster in the London Bullion Market Association’s 2012 poll said.

Prices will average $1,600 an ounce this year, down from a record $1,668.75 last year, Rene Hochreiter, a director and chief executive officer of Johannesburg-based Allan Hochreiter (Pty) Ltd., said by phone last week. The high will be $1,700, below the record of $1,921.15 set in 2011, he said.