By Pham-Duy Nguyen Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Gold and silver fell for the second straight day as the dollar rebounded, reducing the appeal of the precious metals as alternative investments. The dollar climbed as much as 2.2 percent against a weighted basket of six major currencies following a 0.7 percent gain yesterday. Gold is still headed for the second consecutive weekly increase. “As far as gold is concerned, it’s all about the dollar,” said Frank McGhee, head dealer at Integrated Brokerage Services LLC in Chicago. “The dollar regaining strength is going to put a lot of pressure on the gold market.” Gold futures for February delivery fell $23.40, or 2.7 percent, to $837.20 an ounce at 9:57 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division. The metal is up 2 percent this week. Silver futures for March delivery fell 26.5 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $10.855 an ounce. The price still has climbed 6.1 percent this week. To contact the reporter on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net.

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