Gold Prices Fall for a Second Day in London as the Dollar Rises

Aug. 25 -- Gold fell in London for a second day as a rally in the dollar eroded the appeal of the precious metals as an alternative asset. Silver was little changed.

Gold, priced in dollars, often moves in the opposite direction to the U.S. currency. Bullion jumped 4.5 percent last week, the biggest weekly gain in six months, while the dollar index fell 0.5 percent. Oil dropped by more than $6 a barrel on Aug. 22, the most in percentage terms for more than three years.

``Gold is following the movement in oil, which fell sharply in New York last Friday,'' K.C. Wong, trader at Standard Bank Asia Ltd., said by telephone from Singapore today.

Bullion for immediate-delivery fell as much as 0.7 percent to $817.58 an ounce and was at $822.85 at 11:24 a.m. in London. Silver for immediate delivery traded at $13.39 an ounce, up 0.2 percent.

The dollar also rose for a second day against the euro on speculation a drop in oil prices will support the U.S. economy.

The dollar gained to $1.4767 per euro in London from $1.4793 in New York on Aug. 22. The U.S. currency advanced to 109.93 yen from 110.07 yen.

Gold has been supported in the first half by low levels of sales by central banks, Dan Smith, a metals analyst at Standard Chartered Plc in London, said in a report on Aug. 22.

``Latest figures show that in the 10 months to July sales were just 317 tons, which is equivalent to annualized total 380 tons,'' Smith said. ``This is well below the agreed ceiling of 500 tons per year under the Central Bank Gold Agreement and compares to sales of 476 tons in the previous CBGA year.''

Euro May Stall

Gold may rise for a second straight week on speculation the dollar's rally against the euro will stall, boosting the precious metal's appeal as an alternative investment, according to a Bloomberg News survey on Aug. 21 and Aug. 22.

Twenty-two of 28 traders, investors and analysts surveyed from Mumbai to Chicago advised buying gold. Five respondents said to sell and one was neutral.

Gold for December delivery was down 0.7 percent to $828.20 an ounce in after-hours electronic trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange in London. Bullion for December delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 2.4 percent to 182.17 yuan a gram ($827.26 an ounce).

In Japan, gold for June delivery on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell 0.7 percent to at 2,916 yen a gram ($825.08 an ounce).