Investing.com - Gold won't make it to $1,300 an ounce for 2018, falling less than $20 short of the target.
But there's plenty of potential for it to get there in the new year.
COMEX gold futures hit a new six-month high of $1,286.45 per ounce, before wrapping the final session of 2018 at $1,281.30, down $1.70 on the day. For the year, gold ended down 2%.
Gold's retreat at the highs came as U.S. stocks cut some losses on what was shaping to be their worst year since the financial crisis.
Walter Pehowich, executive vice-president at Dillon Gage Metals in Addison, Texas, said in his 2019 outlook last week that he expected gold to benefit from geopolitical risks and a softening dollar.
The dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was down nearly 0.25% at 95.743 by 2:22 PM ET (19:22 GMT).
"I expect physical demand for gold to increase exponentially, as investors watch the U.S. debt explode and the costs of entitlements getting totally out of hand as our politicians continue to ignore all the warning signs," Pehowich said.
It was the first drop for gold in 11 days of trading amid fears of a global recession and worries over the partial U.S. government shutdown since last week.
In other precious metals on COMEX, silver futures settled up 0.5% at $15.52 a troy ounce. For the year, it fell 9%.
Palladium rose 1.2% to $1,197.20. For 2018 it rose 13%.
Sister metal platinum rose 0.5% to $800.30.
In base metals, COMEX copper fell 2% to settle at $2.63 per pound.