Gold Falls to One-Week Low

Bloomberg, Nicholas Larkin and Pham-Duy Nguyen

Gold dropped to a one-week low on sales by some investors to cover losses in equity markets.

The MSCI All-Country World Index of stocks touched the lowest in more than two months. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index has fallen for six straight weeks. Gold reached a record $1,577.40 an ounce on May 2.

"Gold may tumble if margin-call problems should arise in equities here and abroad," said Dennis Gartman, an economist and the editor of the Suffolk, Virginia-based Gartman Letter.

On the Comex in New York, gold futures for August delivery fell $2.10, or 0.1%, to $1,527.10 at 10:16 a.m. Earlier, the price touched $1,523.50, the lowest for a most-active contract since June 2.

Last week, the metal dropped 0.9%, the first decline since early May. Before today, the commodity climbed 7.6% this year.

"Momentum has taken a step back in the wake of gold's failure to overcome $1,550 last week," Edel Tully, a London- based analyst at UBS AG, said in a report.

Silver futures for July delivery fell $0.792, or 2.2%, to $35.535 an ounce. Earlier, the price touched $35.31, the lowest since June 3.