It's been a tough last nine months for gold, as accelerating U.S. economic growth and focus on when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates have pushed the precious metal down.
After rising 14.6 percent from the beginning of the year through March 14 amid concern about U.S. growth and geopolitical turmoil, gold has dropped 13.3 percent, leaving it virtually unchanged for the year.
Ari Wald, technical analyst at Oppenheimer Asset Management, says gold could fall 17 percent next year.
"I think important to me that the moving averages are still sloped lower," Wald tells
CNBC. "I think it's going lower. I think a lot of these commodities that are priced in dollars are going to be pressured here. I would expect new lows [for gold] in 2015. I think there's a risk you could see $1,000."
The dollar hit a seven-year high against the yen in December and a two-year high against the euro. A rising dollar hurts gold and other commodities because they're priced in dollars.
Gold's mediocre performance has led to a sharp reduction in purchases of gold coins. Sales at the U.S. mint are on pace for the biggest annual decline in eight years,
Bloomberg reports.
"People wanted to be in assets that were winning" this year, George Gero, a precious metals strategist at RBC Capital Markets, told the news service. "There is very little interest in gold, and we have seen interest in gold decline through the year."
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