By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Gold fell to the lowest in more than a week in London as a strengthening dollar dimmed the metal’s appeal as an alternative investment. The Dollar Index, a gauge of the currency’s value against six counterparts, climbed for a second day, paring this year’s loss to 2.9 percent. The currency’s advance contributed to declines in all precious metals, oil and copper. “In an absence of other fresh news, the key driver is very much now the currency movement,” Suki Cooper, an analyst at Barclays Capital, said today by phone from London. The metal may trade little changed through August as investors in Europe and North America go on their summer holidays, she said. Bullion for immediate delivery lost $1.42, or 0.2 percent, to $936.08 an ounce by 9:15 a.m. in London, after trading at $933.28, the lowest intraday price since July 17. Gold futures for August delivery fell 0.3 percent to $936 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division. Demand may pick up in September before the Indian wedding season begins in October, Cooper said. India is the world’s largest consumer of the precious metal. The next support level for the metal, indicating clusters of buyers based on technical charts, is at $931.60 an ounce, Credit Suisse said in an e-mailed report today. Gold holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, fell 3.36 metric tons to 1,083.25 tons as of July 28, according to the company’s Web site. Spot silver lost 1 percent to $13.595 an ounce. Platinum declined $10.35, or 0.9 percent, to $1,190.15 an ounce and palladium shed $3.22, or 1.2 percent, to $257.53. To contact the reporter on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in London at cchanjroen@bloomberg.net

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