Other metals follow gold's lead, fall By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures fell Wednesday, slipping modestly following six consecutive days of gains and a day after closing near their record high. Gold for August delivery, the most active contract, retreated $5.20, or 0.4%, to $1,219.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold finished at $1,226.90 an ounce on Tuesday, the highest close for a most-active contract since May 17 and tantalizingly close to the May 12 record of $1,243.10 an ounce. "Gold is further in demand as a 'safe haven,'" analysts at Commerzbank said in a report to clients Wednesday. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust (GLD 119.38, -0.53, -0.44%) , the largest exchange-traded fund backed by gold, on Tuesday rose to 1,268 metric tons ( 1,397 short tons), a fresh record. If gold's trend is upward, analysts are growing increasingly concerned about base metals and precious metals such as platinum that take most of their shine from industrial uses. One of the key worries is slower Chinese economic growth. Copper for July delivery declined 8 cents, or 2.4%, to $2.99 a pound. Platinum for July delivery retreated $9.40, or 0.6%, to $1,539.50 an ounce. Palladium for September delivery was off $11.10, or 2.4%, to $451 an ounce. "At this stage, there are too many headwinds preventing a number of commodity complexes --including metals-- from mounting a credible recovery. Chief among them: the fact that the euro has yet to bottom out, while the U.S. equity market has been derailed as a positive force in establishing upward momentum," analysts at MF Global said in a report Wednesday. "There are also ongoing concerns about the global recovery slowing in the wake of the uncertainties in Europe and steadily tightening credit conditions in China," they added. Meanwhile, the dollar index (DXY 87.06, +0.41, +0.48%) , which compares the U.S. unit to a basket of six currencies, was up 0.4% to 86.99.

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