LONDON -- Gold fell in London as a stronger dollar curbed demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment. Silver dropped to the lowest price this month.
The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback's value, gained as much as 0.4 percent as European and Asian equities declined and the Shanghai Composite Index entered a so-called bear market. Gold tends to decline when the dollar, which benefits as the world's main reserve currency, gains.
“Selling pressure has emerged as dollar bulls returned and equities pressured lower,” James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com in London, said in a report Wednesday. Gold “could be vulnerable to further pressure” and may slip to US$920 an ounce, he said.
Immediate-delivery bullion dropped US$3.54, or 0.4 percent, to US$935.06 an ounce at 11:08 a.m. in London. The metal reached US$930.34 on Aug. 17, the lowest price this month. December gold futures lost 0.3 percent to US$936.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division