Gold Least Preferred for Morgan Stanley as Decline to Resume

Gold is Morgan Stanley’s least preferred commodity among metals as prices resume a decline this year on the outlook for rising U.S. interest rates and low inflation expectations.

The factors that boosted bullion in the first quarter, including tensions in Ukraine, are set to weaken, analyst Joel Crane wrote in a report today. While the 2014 forecast was raised 5 percent to $1,219 an ounce, average prices are still expected to drop for the next four quarters, Crane said.