Gold shines amid market turmoil

By David Sheppard and Frank Tang

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gold is poised to revisit $1,000 an ounce as investors look for a safe place away from the turmoil in other financial markets.

Bullion hit a four-month high on Tuesday at $987.75 and is up 18.5 percent since the start of the year.

It is also gaining value in other major currencies, showing strong demand from investors around the world for the precious metal.

Stocks are wallowing near 21-month lows, energy and food prices have surged and the battered U.S. dollar is sitting near record lows.

"I think it will hit $1,000 by the end of this year almost certainly, and quite possibly by the end of this month. There are a lot of investors looking at gold not as a no-risk asset but as a low risk asset," said Tom Kendall, analyst at Mitsibushi.

"Equity investors are not happy, and risk aversion is on the rise again."

Investment bank UBS raised its short-term gold price forecasts on Monday due to financial market turmoil. It sees an average price of $1,000/oz over the next month versus $900 previously.

Gold hit a record $1,030.80 an ounce on March 17.