Gold prices fell to an eight-week low on reduced investment demand. Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators trimmed their net-long positions, or bets on a rally in Comex gold futures, by 2 percent to 204,921 contracts in the week ended July 13, according to government data. That marked the lowest level since April 6. Before today, the price dropped 4.6 percent this month. “There is no fundamental demand for gold,” said Leonard Kaplan, the president of Prospector Asset Management in Evanston, Illinois. “Gold is a crowded trade, and as soon as investors start selling, there is nobody to buy it.” Gold futures for August delivery fell $6.70, or 0.6 percent, to $1,181.50 an ounce at 9:53 a.m. on the Comex in New York. Earlier, the price touched $1,178.30, the lowest level for a most-active contract since May 24. “Price direction is probably down for this week, and gold will spend more time around the $1,180 and $1,190 levels,” said Robin Bhar, a metals analyst at Credit Agricole CIB in London. “Prices looked overbought, and everybody was very long.” Before today, the metal gained 8.4 percent this year. Silver futures for September delivery dropped 11.8 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $17.67 an ounce. Platinum futures for October delivery declined $2.80, or 0.2 percent, to $1,509.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Palladium futures for September delivery fell $1.60, or 0.4 percent, to $447 an ounce. To contact the reporters on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in London at cchanjaroen@bloomberg.net; Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net.

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