By Pham-Duy Nguyen Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Gold fell, dropping below $750 an ounce for the first time in more than a month, as the dollar jumped, eroding the appeal of the metal as an alternative investment. Silver also declined. Before today, gold dropped 8.4 percent this year as the dollar gained 9.5 percent against a weighted basket of six major currencies. The metal reached a record in March as the dollar headed to an all-time low against the euro. ``The selling of gold has been relentless,'' Dennis Gartman, an economist and editor of the Gartman Letter, said in his daily report. ``Commodity prices are very weak as the dollar and the yen are very strong and liquidation is the order of the day.'' Gold futures for December delivery fell $9.70, or 1.3 percent, to $758.30 an ounce at 8:50 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, the price touched $748, the lowest since Sept. 11. Silver futures for December delivery declined 21.5 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $9.86 an ounce. Before today, the price fell 32 percent this year. The dollar rose as much as 2.3 percent today against the basket of currencies. To contact the reporter on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net.

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