Gold and silver futures fell in New York on speculation that inflation will slow, eroding demand for a store of value. U.S. consumer prices slipped in March to the first 12-month decline since 1955, the Labor Department said yesterday. The euro declined for a third straight day against the dollar, the longest losing streak in six weeks, as industrial output fell. Gold jumped 7.8 percent on March 19 on concern that the Federal Reserve’s plans to buy government debt would reignite inflation. “Gold is showing signs of weakness amid the drop in prices of goods to consumers, indicating that inflation has yet to rear its head,” Miguel Perez-Santalla, a sales vice president at Heraeus Precious Metals Management in New York, said in an e- mailed note. “Investor- and industrial-demand remain weak at these levels as well.” Gold futures for June delivery fell $2.20, or 0.2 percent, to $891.30 an ounce at 9:13 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal gained 1 percent this year before today. Silver futures for May delivery slid 17.5 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $12.625 an ounce. The price rose 13 percent this year before today. The dollar gained 0.2 percent against the 16-nation euro, which traded at $1.3215 at 9:14 a.m. in New York. The European Union’s statistics office said industrial output in the euro region fell 18.4 percent in February from a year earlier, the biggest drop since at least 1986, when the data begin. The European Central Bank hasn’t decided whether to follow its counterparts in the U.S. and the U.K. in using printed money to buy assets, a measure known as quantitative easing. Gold may trade near $800 by summer, based on trader sentiment, Perez-Santalla said. This year, gold futures traded as low as $801.50 on Jan. 15 and as high as $1,007.70 on Feb. 20.

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