Gold declined for a third day to a one-month low as a strengthening dollar reduced the precious metal’s appeal as an alternative investment. Platinum also fell. Bullion retreated as the euro slumped to a one-month low against the dollar after traders increased bets the European Central Bank will reduce interest rates. “It’s really a dollar play right now,” Wallace Ng, precious metals trader at Fortis Bank in Asia Pacific, said today by phone from Hong Kong. “The market has been trading in a tight $820-$880 range in the past month as the dollar continues to strengthen.” Bullion for immediate delivery fell as much as 0.6 percent to $815.80 an ounce, the lowest since Dec. 12, and traded at $819.70 at 5:03 p.m. in Singapore. Gold for February delivery was 0.3 percent lower at $818.80 in after-hours electronic trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. “Physical buying is less than people expected and definitely less than this time last year,” said Ng. “At least until the Chinese New Year, gold will trade in the $780 to $850 range.” The Chinese New Year is in the last week of the month. The euro traded at $1.3261 at 5:05 p.m. in Singapore from $1.3362 yesterday in New York. It earlier touched $1.3222, the lowest level since Dec. 11. Platinum Falls Platinum for immediate delivery declined as much as 3.7 percent to $923 an ounce, extending yesterday’s 3.5 percent fall, as a slowdown in auto sales trimmed demand for the metal. It last traded at $941 an ounce. China vehicle sales may climb about 5 percent this year, the slowest pace since 1998, as a cooling economy and rising job insecurity damp demand, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said yesterday. “China is the second-largest auto market in the world and until the middle of last year, robust demand acted as a counterweight to declining auto sales in North America and elsewhere,” James Steel, an analyst at HSBC Securities in New York, said in a report e-mailed today. Sales of cars, trucks and busses increased 6.7 percent last year to 9.38 million, the group, which represents automakers active in the country, said in a statement today. A year earlier, sales jumped 22 percent. “The gloomy outlook for auto sales is a negative for both platinum and palladium demand and helps explain recent price weakness,” said Steel. “Without a recovery in Chinese demand, the platinum group metals will be hard pressed to rally.” Among other precious metals for immediate delivery, silver was little changed at $10.65 an ounce, and palladium slid 1.2 percent to $184.25 an ounce as of 5:01 p.m. in Singapore.

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