By Nicholas Larkin Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Gold, little changed in London today, may gain as a weaker dollar increases demand for the metal as an alternative investment. The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the U.S. currency’s strength, declined as much as 0.3 percent. Gold fell to $943.50 an ounce yesterday, the lowest price since July 31, as the dollar index rose for a third day. “The market continues to trade on sentiment and swings in the greenback,” Andrey Kryuchenkov, a VTB Capital analyst in London, said today in a note. Immediate-delivery bullion added $1.50, or 0.2 percent, to $947.80 an ounce by 9:17 a.m. in London. December gold futures rose 0.3 percent to $949.60 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division. Gold has dropped 2.5 percent since reaching a two-month high of $971.68 on Aug. 6. It climbed to a record $1,032.70 in March 2008. Investment in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by the metal, declined 0.35 metric ton to 1,068.55 tons yesterday, data on the company’s Web site show. The fund reached a record 1,134.03 tons on June 1. Silver for immediate delivery in London added 0.6 percent to $14.465 an ounce. Platinum rose 0.4 percent to $1,253.15 an ounce, and palladium was 0.7 percent lower at $273.50 an ounce. Gold held in ETF Securities Ltd.’s exchange-traded commodities slipped 0.3 percent to 7.32 million ounces yesterday, according to the company’s Web site. Silver holdings added 0.2 percent to 19.28 million ounces, the data show.

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