By Jae Hur Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Gold declined for the first time in four days as the dollar strengthened and crude oil fell, reducing the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative investment. Bullion often moves in the opposite direction to the dollar and a rise in oil costs boosts the appeal of the metal as a hedge against inflation. The dollar advanced as much as 1 percent against the euro after dropping the previous two days. Crude oil fell in New York, paring yesterday’s 9 percent gain. “The dollar’s rebound and a fall in crude oil prices triggered a technical correction in gold,” said Kazuhiko Saito, strategist at Interes Capital Management Co. in Tokyo. The rally in stock markets also reduced the appeal of the metal as a haven, he said. Gold for immediate delivery lost as much as 1.6 percent to $808.80 an ounce and was at $813.57 as of 1:10 p.m. in Singapore. The metal touched yesterday $829.38, the highest since Oct. 16. Silver for immediate delivery fell 1.3 percent to $10.42 an ounce after surging 9.2 percent yesterday. The dollar was at $1.2853 per euro after losing 2.9 percent yesterday. It earlier rose to $1.2821. Crude oil for January delivery fell 1.6 percent to $53.62. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced as much as 3.5 percent to 79.55 today. U.S. stocks surged yesterday as the government’s rescue of Citigroup Inc. revived investor confidence, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rising 6.5 percent. That capped its biggest two day rally since 1987. Gold for October delivery on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange jumped by the 150 yen daily limit to 2,467 yen per gram ($794 an ounce) from the opening. The exchange was closed yesterday for a public holiday in Japan. December-delivery gold declined 0.7 percent to $813.90 an ounce in after-hours electronic trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. To contact the reporter on this story: Jae Hur in Singapore at jhur1@bloomberg.net

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