Gold bars at the Austrian Gold and Silver Separating Plant in Vienna, Austria. Leonhard Foeger | Reuters

Goldman Sachs is expecting gold to "outperform" over the coming months.



For the first time in more than five years, commodity analysts at the U.S. investment bank are bullish on yellow metal prices. Goldman's analysts said signs of an uptick in inflation and the "increased risk" of a stock market correction should both prove to be price supportive for bullion.



"Our commodities team believes that the dislocation between the gold prices and U.S. rates is here to say," Goldman Sachs analysts, led by Eugene King, said in a research note published Monday.



"Based on empirical data for the past six tightening cycles, gold has outperformed post rate hikes four times," the analysts added.

'Counterintuitive' gold forecast

Last week, the Federal Reserve approved the widely anticipated quarter-point rate hike to put the new benchmark funds rate at 1.75 percent. Central bankers, led by Jerome Powell in his first meeting as chairman, also hinted the path of rate hikes could be more aggressive.