BLBG: Gold Falls in London as Dollar Strengthens, Crude Oil Declines
By Nicholas Larkin
Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Gold fell in London as the dollar strengthened against the euro and crude oil dropped, diminishing the appeal of the metal as an alternative investment and hedge against inflation.
The metal yesterday had its biggest daily gain in almost seven weeks. The dollar rose today on speculation Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential election will accelerate policies to revive the world's biggest economy. Oil declined after investors judged yesterday's 10 percent gain as excessive.
``After the U.S. election, the dollar ticked higher a bit and gold is making a correction,'' Afshin Nabavi, a senior vice president at MKS Finance SA, one of Switzerland's four bullion refiners, said by phone from Geneva. Gold ``performed very well yesterday.''
Gold for immediate delivery lost $7.03, or 0.9 percent, to $756.22 an ounce as of 8:47 a.m. in London. Futures for December were $5.30, or 0.7 percent, lower at $752 an ounce in electronic trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Crude oil dropped 4 percent to $67.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange today. The dollar rose to $1.2807 per euro.
The relationship between gold and the euro-dollar exchange rate has strengthened this year, with a correlation of 0.60, compared with 0.53 a year earlier. A figure of 1 would mean they move in lockstep.
Gold in the SPDR Gold Trust, the largest exchange-traded fund backed by bullion, held steady at 749.2 metric tons yesterday, according to figures posted on the company's Web site.
Among other metals for immediate delivery, silver gained 0.7 percent to $10.29 an ounce. Platinum added $1.50, or 0.2 percent, to $853 and palladium was $2, or 0.9 percent, lower at $210 an ounce.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net