Commodities demand from emerging markets and limited growth in supplies will help to support prices toward the end of the year, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which backed oil, gold, copper, zinc and platinum.

The bank reiterated an “overweight” recommendation on commodities, analysts led by Allison Nathan and Jeffrey Currie wrote in a report. Goldman pared its 12-month forecast for the S&P GSCI Enhanced Total Returns Index to a 19 percent gain from 21.6 after recent gains in agricultural commodities and metals.

Commodities last week had the worst weekly performance in six after the Federal Reserve said the recovery is weakening and European industrial output fell, stoking concern that there may be a double-dip recession. Reports also showed China’s retail sales and new lending grew in July at a slower pace than June.

“We are not overly optimistic about commodities prices in the second half,” Ni Xiaolei, a trader at Donghai Futures Co., said from Jiangsu today. “‘We saw a very sharp ascent in commodity prices last month, which will be hard to sustain as global macroeconomic data emerges weaker than expected.’’

Goldman’s commodity ‘‘overweight’’ call was maintained even as the bank has been paring forecasts for U.S. and Japanese economic growth for next year. Ed McKelvey, Goldman’s senior U.S. economist in New York, has also said that the chance the U.S. may tumble back into recession is as high as 30 percent.

Gold, Crude

Gold, which surged to a record $1,265.30 an ounce in June amid concern sovereign-debt levels in Europe may be excessive, traded at $1,29.60 at 2:11 p.m. in Singapore, 11 percent higher this year. Goldman forecast a rise to $1,260 in three months and to $1,300 in six. New York crude futures were at $75.86 a barrel, 4.4 percent lower over 2010. Goldman’s report put them at $92 a barrel in three months.

‘‘The current softness in economic data, combined with increasingly mixed signals from the underlying commodity markets, is likely to continue to generate choppy commodity-price action in the near term,” the Goldman analysts wrote in the Aug. 13 report. Still, “high and rising emerging-market demand levels against limited supply growth in key commodities are likely to increasingly tighten balances,” they wrote.

Japan’s economy expanded at an annualized 0.4 percent in the three months to June 30, the Cabinet Office said today. That’s the slowest pace in three quarters. U.S. industrial production figures are due for release tomorrow, the same day as data on investor confidence in Germany.

Chinese Demand

Commodity prices may advance into the end of the year on evidence of increased oil demand in China, a decline in crude stockpiles in Europe and the U.S., and further falls in metals inventories, the report said.

“We expect upside to be greatest for crude oil, copper, zinc, platinum and gold,” it said. “Improved data will likely be required to sustain rising prices.”

Goldman Sachs last week backed gold to resume a rally and climb to a record $1,300 an ounce within six months on renewed investor interest. The precious metal, which has risen for nine years to last year, may also climb in 2011, the report said.

A ban on wheat exports by Russia helped to drive futures to $8.68 a bushel earlier this month, the highest price in almost two years. The country is battling reduced grains production amid the worst drought in at least 50 years.

‘Sharp Gains’

“Commodity returns rose over the past month led by sharp gains in the agricultural complex owing to weather-related supply shocks in wheat,” according to the Goldman report.

Zinc, trading today at $2,080 a metric ton, has fallen 19 percent this year, making it the worst performer on the London Metal Exchange. Goldman’s analysts forecast that the metal may climb to $2,121 a ton in six months, according to the report.

Copper rose 1.3 percent to $7,246.50 a metric ton, paring this year’s loss to 1.7 percent, while platinum gained 0.8 percent to $1,535.75 an ounce, 5 percent stronger this year. Goldman forecast copper at $7,925 a ton in six months.

Japan will grow 1.4 percent in 2011, compared with an earlier forecast of 1.7 percent, Goldman’s Tokyo-based senior economist Chiwoong Lee said in a report dated Aug. 7. The week before that Goldman lowered its projection for U.S. growth for the same year to 1.9 percent from 2.5 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at [email protected]

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-16/goldman-maintains-overweight-commodities-call-backs-copper-oil-gold.html