June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Gold fell for the first day in five in Asia as a pause in the dollar’s decline damped demand for the precious metal as a haven investment. Bullion, which typically moves inversely to the U.S. currency, has dropped 4.3 percent this month as the Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback’s value against six major trading partners, climbed 1.1 percent. The dollar rose against the euro for the first time in three days after China said it won’t alter its foreign-currency reserves suddenly. “The prospect for higher gold prices rests with investor attitudes and these in turn are likely to be guided by expectations for the dollar’s outlook and the need to hedge against economic and financial risk,” Societe Generale SA analysts led by Frederic Lasserre said in a quarterly report. Gold for immediate delivery dropped as much as 0.5 percent to $935.20 an ounce and traded at $937.18 an ounce at 2:48 p.m. in Singapore. Still, the metal is headed for a third straight quarterly increase on longer-term inflationary expectations. “With a ballooning U.S. budget deficit there is an argument for higher gold prices in the medium term, although in the coming weeks, with the commodities sector somewhat strained, the price may remain under pressure,” said Lasserre. Thirteen of 23 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News, or 57 percent, said bullion would gain this week on speculation record low U.S. interest rates will increase demand for alternative investments. Four people forecast lower prices and six were neutral. Among other precious metals for immediate delivery, silver fell 0.5 percent to $14.01 an ounce, platinum was down 0.8 percent at $1,192.50 an ounce and palladium was unchanged at $246 an ounce.

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