By Claudia Carpenter and Halia Pavliva July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Gold rose for the first time in three days as the dollar dropped and equities climbed, enhancing the appeal of commodities. Silver also gained. The greenback fell as much as 0.6 percent against a basket of six major currencies. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index approached a nine-month high. Eighteen of 19 raw materials in the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index advanced. “The dollar is likely to go lower, and thus gold higher today,” David Thurtell, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in London, said in an e-mail. Gold futures for August delivery climbed $7.70, or 0.8 percent, to $934.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The December contract gained $7.60, or 0.8 percent, to $937.30. The spot price rose $5.80, or 0.6 percent, to $935.80 at 3:06 p.m. New York time. Silver futures for September delivery climbed 22.7 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $13.485 an ounce on the Comex. Spot gold dropped 2.5 percent in the previous two days on signs of waning investment demand for the metal. Yesterday, holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by bullion, fell 1 percent to 1,073 metric tons, extending a slide to the lowest since March 17. Holdings have slumped 4.3 percent this month. To contact the reporters on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net; To contact the reporters on this story: Halia Pavliva in New York at hpavliva@bloomberg.net

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