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New York, NY—Gold closed out August lower than it did in July, ending the record-breaking month back below $2,000 an ounce. Gold futures hit $2,088 and spot gold hit $2,067 on August 8, which to date is the all-time high. (Futures are exactly that—locking in a price for future purchase, whereas spot gold is the price for immediate delivery, such as bullion.) Spot gold closed at about $1,968 on August 31.

Figures from Dow Jones Market Data show that for the full month of August, gold lost 0.4%, while silver climbed about 18%. Platinum, meanwhile, is trading at less than half of gold, at $938 an ounce.

Writing for metals-trading site Kitco.com, metals analyst Gary Wagner pointed out that after breaching the important $2,000 barrier, gold was never able to sustain it for more than five consecutive trading days in August. Nevertheless, he sees market forces—interest rates near zero, quantitative easing, a weak U.S. dollar—driving gold to regain strength, and predicts it will establish a base over $2,000 in the next few months. 

Analyst Christopher Lewis, writing for FX Empire, concurs. “A break above the recent high from a couple of weeks ago would send this market looking towards the $2100 level. A break above there then opens up the door to $2500 which is my longer-term target,” he writes.

Image: This chart from Kitco.com shows the price volatility of gold during August 2020.