Gold prices have bounced higherin the first couple of months of this yearas strong investor flows and improvedconfidence about the economic outlookhave lifted metal markets across thecomplex. While gold has not rallied asmuch as some of its peers， it has provedresilient in the face of US dollar (USD)strength， which seems to bode well forthe outlook. Also， the continued useof quantitative easing in Japan， UKand the US and the LTRO programlaunched by the European CentralBank (ECB) in December have allheightened concern about the potentialfor inflation further down the road.