The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that gold prices will push toward record highs over the next 18 months as the COVID-19 crisis encourages investors to hoard the metal as a hedge against possible turmoil in the markets, a Reuters poll showed. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that low jewellery sales in Asia and the prospect of economic recovery, however, will hinder further gains, respondents said. Spot gold is one of this year's best performing assets, with prices up almost 20 per cent and more than $1,800 an ounce for the first time since 2011 (all figures U.S.). Fuelling the rally are low interest rates, which make non-yielding gold more attractive, and a belief that central bank stimulus and economic turbulence could devalue other assets. The poll of 42 analysts and traders returned a median forecast for gold to average $1,713 an ounce in 2020 and $1,800 in 2021 -- a large rise from projections of $1,639 and $1,655 an ounce in a similar survey in April. "The more uncertainty over the control of the virus and by association the global economy, the more bullish for gold," says StoneX analyst Rhona O'Connell. She says prices could reach record levels above $2,000 in 2021.