By Claudia Carpenter April 27 (Bloomberg) -- Gold futures declined in New York as an increase in the value of the dollar may curb demand at a time of increased metal sales. Palladium dropped the most in more than a week. Sales of old jewelry and other scrap gold have increased at the same time as investor demand gained, according to Walter de Wet, an analyst at Standard Bank Plc in London. The dollar rose as much as 0.7 percent against the euro on speculation Greece won’t get a loan quickly enough to avoid default on its bonds. “Investment demand is there but we’re also seeing decent physical selling” of scrap metal from Asia, de Wet said. “Intraday moves are still a reflection of what the dollar does.” Gold for delivery in June fell $4.40, or 0.4 percent, to $1,149.60 an ounce at 8:19 a.m. on the Comex in New York. Bullion for immediate delivery dropped 0.4 percent to $1,149.32. Assets in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest fund for gold, rose 6.09 metric tons to a record 1,146.22 tons yesterday, according to figures on the company’s Web site. Prices will probably average a record $1,200 an ounce in the third quarter, de Wet said. Gold’s all-time high is $1,226.56 on Dec. 3. Gold in the morning fixing, used by some mining companies to sell production, fell to $1,152.25 an ounce from yesterday’s afternoon fixing of $1,154.50 an ounce. Palladium for delivery in June dropped as much as $20.90, or 3.7 percent, to $545.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest retreat since April 16. Investment demand for the metal in the ETF Securities Ltd. exchange-traded product in the U.S. was at 669,059 ounces on April 23, unchanged for a third day, according to information on the company’s Web site. Platinum for July delivery fell 0.8 percent to $1,731.40 an ounce and July silver futures declined 0.8 percent to $18.215 an ounce. To contact the reporter on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.

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