VINACHEM

Gold fell in London as some investorsspeculated that data tomorrow may reinforce the case for the Federal Reserve to taper stimulus, curbing demand for preciousmetals as a haven.

The U.S. added more jobs than predicted last month, aprivate report showed yesterday, fueling expectations thattomorrow’s official payrolls data may prompt the Fed to startparing its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases. Gold tumbled26 percent this year, heading for the first annual drop since2000, as some investors lost faith in the metal as a store ofvalue and holdings in exchange-traded products contracted.

“Quantitative easing and when that is being tapered isstill very important,” said Steven Dooley, head of research atForex Capital Trading Pty in Melbourne.

Bullion for immediate delivery dropped 0.5 percent to$1,237.09 an ounce at 8:09 a.m. in London. Prices surged 1.7percent yesterday, the most since Oct. 22. Gold for Februarydelivery dropped 0.9 percent to $1,236.20 on Comex in New York.

Employers added 185,000 workers last month after they rose204,000 in October, according to the median estimate in aBloomberg survey before the Labor Department’s report. U.S.companies added 215,000 jobs in November, according to the ADPResearch Institute report yesterday, more than predicted in aBloomberg survey and the biggest increase in a year.

Fed Minutes

Minutes of the Fed’s October meeting released on Nov. 20showed that policy makers expected an improving economy willallow the central bank to trim its debt purchases in the comingmonths. The Fed next meets on Dec. 17-18. Bullion rose 70percent from December 2008 to June 2011 as the central bankpumped more than $2 trillion into the financial system.

Assets in the SPDR Gold Trust fell to 838.71 metric tonsyesterday, the lowest since January 2009, according to data onthe fund’s website. Global holdings in exchange-traded productsbacked by bullion slumped 30 percent this year, touching 1,832.2tons, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Silver for immediate delivery fell 0.6 percent to $19.5738an ounce. Prices dropped to $18.9003 yesterday, the lowest sinceJuly 8, before closing 2.9 percent higher. Platinum dropped 0.1percent to $1,368.50 an ounce and palladium declined 0.1 percentto $727.10 an ounce.