Gold drops a second day as dollar strengthens

Gold declined for a second day in London as concerns that the European debt crisis is worsening, drove the dollar higher and cut demand for the metal as an alternative asset. Gold touched a record $1,921.15 (Dh7,056) an ounce on September 6 and yesterday climbed to all-time highs priced in euros and Swiss francs. "While gold is capable of rallying in the face of a strong dollar, an extended upward move in the dollar does put some obstacles in its path," Edel Tully, a London-based analyst at UBS AG, wrote in a report. Still, "gold should benefit from the scaling back of risk appetite on what appear to be rising fears of a Greek default, contagion to the rest of the periphery, and the impact on banks." Immediate-delivery gold fell $6.15, or 0.3 per cent, to $1,849.55 an ounce in early trade in London. Gold for December delivery was down 0.5 per cent at $1,850.10 on the Comex. Bullion is in the 11th year of a bull market, the longest winning streak since at least 1920 in London, as investors seek to diversify away from equities and some currencies. The metal is up 30 per cent this year, outperforming global stocks, commodities and Treasuries. "Nothing changes from week to week," said Gavin Wendt, founder and director of Mine Life Pty in Sydney. "There's always a lot of uncertainty, and we're definitely going to see a continued interest in gold. As people look for haven assets, it's very possible for both the dollar and gold to go up together." Gold exchange-traded-product holdings rose on Friday for the first time since August 30, gaining 11.8 metric tons to 2,149.8 tonnes, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Assets reached a record 2,216.8 tonnes on August 8. Silver for immediate delivery fell 0.6 per cent to $41.21 an ounce. Platinum was down 0.3 per cent at $1,828.10 an ounce. Palladium slipped as much as 1.1 per cent to $729 an ounce, the lowest price since August 11.