Gold's impressive performance in 2019 may spill into the new decade

Spot gold -- which last traded at about $1,461 an ounce -- is up 14 per cent this year

Gold’s impressive advance in 2019 -- aided by trade war frictions, easier monetary policy across the world’s leading economies and sustained central-bank buying -- may be set to spill into the new decade.

As 2020 looms, BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest money manager, remains constructive on bullion as a hedge, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS Group AG see prices climbing to $1,600 an ounce -- a level last seen in 2013.

Bullion is heading for the biggest annual advance since 2010, outperforming the Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index, as a year dominated by trade war vicissitudes and a trio of Federal