By Pham-Duy Nguyen Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Gold and silver prices fell for the fourth time in five sessions as the dollar rallied, eroding the appeal of the precious metals as alternative investments. The dollar rose as much as 1.1 percent against a weighted basket of six major currencies after dropping 1.8 percent yesterday. Gold is headed for the first annual decline since 2000, while the greenback is poised for the first gain in three years. “Gold is being pushed back and forth by the dollar,” said Frank Lesh, a trader at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago. “The capital is not in the gold market now.” Gold futures for February delivery dropped $4.50, or 0.6 percent, to $764.80 an ounce at 9:08 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price climbed 2.3 percent yesterday after slumping 8.2 percent last week. Silver futures for March delivery dropped 22.5 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $9.75 an ounce. The metal jumped 5.8 percent yesterday after sliding 7.8 percent last week. To contact the reporter on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net.

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