after climbing to record highs more than a year ago gold is poised to post its first yearly loss since 2018 as it struggles to hold ground above 1800 an ounce but the precious metal’s prices may have room to rise before the year is done gold marched past 2000 in august 2020 in reaction to the pandemic and shutdowns in global economies as investors rushed to gold and other assets viewed as investment havens says kevin rich global gold market adviser at the perth mint this year it has “moved to the back burner”