In Is Gold Set to Accelerate Higher? (MarketWatch), Mike Paulenoff suggests that a 5.5-month cycle low has been established and that “Wednesday's thrust above key near-term resistance at $1595-$1601 argues that a new up-leg is on the verge of upside acceleration.” If correct, the gold price “should revisit $1800 quickly, on its way to a new all-time high above $1921.50.”

In Is Gold Ready to Run to All-Time Highs? (The Street), David Banister sees a similar prospect. The current “corrective patterns are part of a normal ‘Wave 4’ consolidation that works off the sentiment and overbought nature of that Wave 3 updraft. Following this consolidation, I fully expect gold to continue past the $1,900 per ounce area and run to $2,300 per ounce or higher, in a Wave 5 rally into the summer of 2013.”

On Thursday gold rose for a third day in New York on the prospect of monetary easing after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi pledged to do whatever was necessary to protect the euro zone from collapse.

"Right now gold is testing resistance," Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital told Reuters. "If we can break above it, we will get another leg higher,"

Gold for August delivery advanced $7, or 0.4%, to settle at US$1,615.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. September silver turned lower midsession, and settled down 2 cents, or 0.1%, at $27.45 an ounce.