Gold fell to the lowest price in more than two weeks, headed for a first weekly loss in six, as Group of 20 finance chiefs debated whether to set targets for current account imbalances to defuse tension over currencies. Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers meet in South Korea today and tomorrow for talks on how to keep the global recovery progressing amid concern that countries may be vying with each other to weaken their currencies. “No country will be better off in the so-called currency war,” said Bayram Dincer, an analyst at LGT Capital Management in Switzerland. “If this currency uncertainty is tackled by G-20 finance ministers and central bankers, it will be negative for gold.” Gold for December delivery fell $4.10, or 0.3 percent, to $1,321.50 an ounce as of 8:22 a.m. on the Comex in New York, after earlier declining to $1,315.60, the lowest since Oct. 5. The contract retreated 3.7 percent this week. Immediate-delivery bullion fell 0.4 percent to $1,320.80 an ounce in London. Gold retreated to $1,319 an ounce in the morning “fixing” in London, used by some mining companies to sell output, from $1,343.50 at yesterday’s afternoon fixing. “Comments on the present ‘currency war’ should have an impact on the U.S. currency and on gold prices too,” Commerzbank AG analysts led by Eugen Weinberg said in a report today, noting “high volatility” in precious metals prices. The U.S. Dollar Index, a gauge against six counterparts, was little changed at 77.404 after earlier rising as much as 0.4 percent. Finance Ministers Global finance ministers are planning to say in South Korea that members will refrain from “competitive undervaluation” of currencies, according to an official from a G-20 country, citing a draft statement and speaking on condition of anonymity. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said nations with persistent trade surpluses should use policy tools including exchange rates to reduce those imbalances. Geithner told Brazil’s Finance Minister Guido Mantega that the U.S. won’t allow the dollar to weaken, Mantega said yesterday. Gold rallied for the past five weeks on speculation that the Federal Reserve may further ease monetary policy, hurting the dollar. Bullion for immediate delivery, up 21 percent this year, is heading for a 10th annual gain, the longest winning streak since at least 1920. The metal has outperformed global equities, Treasuries and most industrial metals, prompting record investment in gold-backed exchange-traded products. Gold Assets Gold assets in ETPs declined 0.91 metric ton to 2,098.92 tons yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from 10 providers. Holdings reached a record 2,104.65 tons on Oct. 14. “It is remarkable that the price slump this week was accompanied by only low” outflows from exchange-traded funds, Commerzbank said. “This implies that speculative financial investors have taken profits.” Ten of 19 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, or 53 percent, said that gold will fall next week as some investors sell the metal after its rally to a record. Seven forecast higher prices and two were neutral. Silver for immediate delivery fell 0.9 percent to $22.975 an ounce in London after dropping 3.2 percent yesterday. The metal reached $24.92 on Oct. 14, the highest level for 30 years. Platinum declined 0.4 percent to $1,668.25 an ounce, while palladium dropped 1.6 percent to $578.33 an ounce after reaching a nine-year high of $605.13 last week. To contact the reporters on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in Moscow at mkolesnikova@bloomberg.net; Wendy Pugh in Melbourne at wpugh@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter@bloomberg.net.

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