Gold declines from highest since November as dollar strengthens

London: Gold on Monday fell as some investors sold the metal after its rally to the highest in almost 11 months and as a stronger dollar curbed demand for an alternative investment.

    

The precious metal fell 0.7 percent to USD 1,767.76 an ounce and silver by 1.9 percent to USD 33.85 an ounce.     

The dollar climbed versus the euro as European finance ministers meet in Luxembourg on Monday, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits Greece on Tuesday for the first time since the crisis erupted.

     

Gold reached USD 1,796.10 an ounce on October 5, the highest since November 14, before a report showed the US unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since January, 2009.

    

Holdings in gold-backed exchange-traded products rose 4.1 tonnes to a record 2,569.6 tonnes on October 5.

    

Finance ministers meeting on Monday are likely to make a positive statement on Greece’s progress toward reaching austerity targets needed to pave the way for the nation’s next bailout payment, European Union Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs said.