Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Gold, little changed in Asian trading, may decline as global stocks and crude oil slumped, reducing demand for the precious metal as an inflation hedge. Bullion ended a four-day advance yesterday as oil plunged as much as 5 percent and China led the slump in global stocks on speculation a slowdown in lending will stifle growth. The MSCI Asia Pacific index of regional shares fell for a second day. “We are very disappointed to see the rally come off,” said Ng Cheng Thye, director with Standard Merchant Bank Ltd. in Singapore. “You need some bullish factors, not so much on the dollar but also on interest rates. When the recovery is in full steam, people will be concerned about inflation, then gold can penetrate to a higher level.” Gold for immediate delivery traded little changed at $951.08 an ounce at 8:57 a.m. in Singapore. The metal is up 7.8 percent this year. The ratio of speculative net-long positions to short positions for the week ended Aug. 25 was nine to one, the highest level in six years, according to a data provided by Commerzbank AG. Net-long positions rose to 182,982 contracts, it said. “Should profit taking occur, the gold price may come under considerable pressure,” Eugen Weinberg, an analyst with Commerzbank, wrote in a note yesterday. Gold holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, were unchanged for a fourth day at 1,061.83 metric tons yesterday, according to figures on the company’s Web site. Among other precious metals for immediate delivery, silver dropped 0.5 percent at $14.83 an ounce, platinum rose 0.3 percent to $1,241.75 an ounce and palladium was little changed at $291.50.

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