Author: Paul Ploumis05 Jun 2014 Last updated at 08:25:32 GMT

NEW DELHI (Scrap Monster): The French multinational banking and financial services company Societe Generale has raised its near-term price forecast for gold. The bank raised its 2014 gold price forecast to $1,272 per Oz from its earlier forecast of $1,180 per Oz.

The key factor behind raising the price forecast is attributed to the support that gold received from Crimean crisis. The crisis which led to the US and EU sanctions on Russia, spurred safe-haven buying in gold, the bank noted in the Commodities Review Note published Wednesday.

Societe Generale indicates that the Crimean crisis led to huge rise of net investor positions on COMEX during the month of March. Though these positions have subsided during April and May, it still remains at much higher levels upon comparison with the initial two months of the year. This has provided much support to the yellow metal prices, Soc Gen added.

The rallying world stock markets and the reviving US economy played significant role in reducing the COMEX net investor holdings to 302 tonnes during end-April. However, the total tonnage is much higher when compared with the levels during the start of the year.

Meanwhile, the bank remained highly bearish over the medium to long term prospects of gold. The yellow metal is likely to breach $1,200 per Oz during 2015 and to break below $1,000 per Oz in 2016 as the US Fed is expected to hike interest rates at much faster pace.

On the other hand, the 2014 price forecast for Silver was lowered from $19 per Oz down to $18.65 per Oz.