LONDON -- Gold fell for the first time in five days in London as a stronger dollar prompted some investors to sell the metal after its rally to a record. Gold futures rose for a ninth consecutive day, the longest winning run since 1982. The Dollar Index added as much as 0.2 percent after Wednesday slipping to a 15-month low. Bullion is still heading for a second weekly gain after India's central bank bought gold last month to diversify reserves. Futures reached a record Thursday and investor Marc Faber said bullion, set for a ninth annual increase, wouldn't trade at less than US$1,000 again. “The dollar is gaining some strength,” Sagiv Perez, a senior dealer at Finotec Trading U.K. in London, said by phone Thursday. Immediate-delivery bullion gained as much as 0.5 percent to US$1,123.38 an ounce in London and traded down 0.2 percent at US$1,115.48 by 10 a.m. local time. December gold futures climbed as much as 0.8 percent to US$1,123.40 on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division and were last up 0.1 percent at US$1,115.60. Platinum and palladium climbed to the highest prices in more than a year. Still, “consensus remains very dollar bearish,” Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst at VTB Capital in London, said in a report. “A sustained push below 75 on the dollar index could see gold rallying even higher towards US$1,150 before the end of the month.” The dollar index, currently at 75.23, has dropped on record-low U.S. interest rates and increased government borrowing to combat recession. “Gold looks to be on target to hit US$1,300 before the end of the year,” said Wallace Ng, Hong Kong-based chief trader at Fortis Bank's commodity-derivatives unit. “It will still be the dollar in the driving seat.” Gold priced in dollars tends to move in the opposite direction to the U.S. currency. The metal remains below its high after accounting for inflation. Spot gold's US$850 an ounce peak in 1980 is equivalent to US$2,227.84 Thursday after adjusting for changes in prices, according to the U.S. Labor Department's inflation calculator. The rally in futures has lifted spot gold's 14-day relative-strength index, a gauge of whether a commodity or security may be set for a decline or gain, to more than 70, a level viewed by some investors as a signal for a retreat. Thursday's index was 73.68, according to Bloomberg data. Among other precious metals for immediate delivery, platinum gained as much as 0.9 percent to a 14-month high of US$1,382.25 an ounce, and was last down 0.3 percent at US$1,365.80. Silver lost 0.3 percent to US$17.545 an ounce and palladium advanced as much as 2.1 percent to a 15-month high of US$351.30 an ounce. The best-performing precious metal this year was last at US$346.75.

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