Gold declined for a third day in London as speculation that economies will improve lifted shares, reducing demand for the metal as a haven. Silver also fell. Most stocks in Europe and Asia rose, sending the MSCI World Index to its longest stretch of gains since June 2007, as investors speculated central banks will increase efforts to buoy economies. The index has dropped 15 percent this year as gold has increased 3.4 percent. “Because of the strength in equities, people are closing positions after holding gold as a safe haven,” said Wolfgang Wrzesniok-Rossbach, head of marketing and sales at Hanau, Germany-based Heraeus Metallhandels GmbH. “The physical side is much quieter than it was last week. There’s still some scrap supplies coming in.” Gold for immediate delivery lost as much as $6.53, or 0.7 percent, to $908.88 an ounce and traded at $911.90 by 11:42 a.m. local time. Bullion has slipped 1.9 percent this week. April futures fell 0.5 percent to $912 an ounce in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division. The metal declined to $910.75 in the morning “fixing” in London, used by some mining companies to sell production, from $915.50 at yesterday’s afternoon fixing. Spot prices, which today traded at a six-day low, are 12 percent below the record $1,032.70 an ounce reached a year ago. Inflation Figures Reports yesterday showed U.S. housing starts unexpectedly surged, a signal that the real-estate slump may be nearing an end, and wholesale costs rose less than forecast. The Bank of Japan said it will buy more government bonds from banks to spur lending, and Federal Reserve policy makers meeting today may mull raising the size and pace of a $600 billion asset-buying plan. “The two stories pushing gold up and making headlines almost daily -- inflation and the flight to safety -- are now out of favor with investors,” London-based broker ODL Securities Ltd. said today in a report. Bullion holdings in exchange-traded funds have climbed to records as investors seek to protect their wealth. Central banks are spending trillions of dollars in response to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, leading some investors to bet that stimulus plans will erode the value of currencies and spur inflation. Gold imports by India, the world’s biggest buyer, have been near zero this month as a weak currency and high prices increase the cost of owning the metal, the Bombay Bullion Association Ltd. said. Jewelry makers are meeting demand from scrap sales. Asian Prices More supply may come from investor liquidation of holdings as the fiscal year ends, Eugen Weinberg, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, wrote in a note. Slightly lower prices for gold bars in Asia also are a sign “against higher gold prices in the next few days,” he wrote. Still, Citigroup Inc. raised its forecast for the metal’s price this year by 3.8 percent to $856 an ounce. The bank cited rising investment demand spurred by the world economic turmoil and concern that government stimulus packages may fuel inflation. Assets in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest ETF backed by bullion, were unchanged at a record 1,069.05 metric tons yesterday after four days of gains, according to figures on the company’s Web site. Among other metals for immediate delivery in London, silver fell 0.6 percent to $12.67 an ounce. Platinum added 0.2 percent to $1,051 an ounce, and palladium rose 1 percent to $197.50 an ounce.

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