By Pham-Duy Nguyen Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Gold fell for the first time this week on speculation that a global economic slump will reduce demand for commodities. Silver gained. Morgan Stanley cut its forecast for gold prices by 5 percent, estimating that the metal will average $900 an ounce this year and $950 in 2009. Before today, gold gained 8.8 percent this week as investors sought a haven from plummeting equities. ``A lot of the speculative money is off to the sidelines,'' said Marty McNeill, a trader at R.F. Lafferty Inc. in New York. ``Gold is a victim of deleveraging. Eventually, it will do better than other commodities because it will hold its value.'' Gold futures for December delivery fell $15.30, or 1.7 percent, to $891.20 at 12:02 p.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price rose to a record $1,033.90 on March 17. Silver futures for December delivery gained 20.3 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $11.975 an ounce. Before today, the price dropped 21 percent this year. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials has dropped 34 percent from a record in July as energy, agricultural and industrial-metal prices slid. The gauge was little changed today. Gold's decline may be a sign of some stability in financial markets after the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and four other central banks yesterday reduced borrowing costs in a coordinated effort to ease the credit crunch. `Vote of Confidence' ``We think this is a vote of confidence in the global banking, trading, economic system,'' said Dennis Gartman, an economist and the editor of Suffolk, Virginia-based Gartman Letter. Gold-lease rates fell for the second straight day, after gaining every day since Sept. 18 as credit conditions tightened. The one-month Libor gold forward offered rate fell to 2.4 percent today, after touching 2.7 percent on Oct. 10, the highest since 2001. Still, gold may rebound on demand for a haven should more banks fail and the credit market remains frozen. Stocks in Europe and the U.S. fell today, and the cost of borrowing in dollars for three months in London rose to the highest level this year. Investment in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, reached a record 763.9 metric tons yesterday. To contact the reporter on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net.

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