Gold May Fall to Longest Slide Since 2004 as Dollar Strengthens

By Pham-Duy Nguyen

Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Gold may fall for a sixth straight week, the longest slide in four years, as a strengthening dollar erodes the precious metal's appeal as an alternative investment.

Twelve of 21 traders, investors and analysts surveyed from Mumbai to Chicago on Aug. 14 and Aug. 15 advised selling gold, which last week fell to $792.10 an ounce in New York, capping an 8.4 percent drop for the week that was the biggest in 25 years. Eight respondents said to buy, and one was neutral.

Gold, priced in dollars, generally moves in the opposite direction of the U.S. currency. Gold is down as much as 25 percent from a record $1,033.90 reached on March 17. The last time the metal fell for six straight weeks was in May 2004.

A majority of analysts surveyed Aug. 7 and Aug. 8 expected gold's drop last week. The survey has forecast prices accurately in 135 of 224 weeks, or 60 percent of the time.

This week's survey results: Bullish: 8 Bearish: 12 Neutral: 1

To contact the reporter on this story: Pham-Duy Nguyen in Seattle at pnguyen@bloomberg.net.