Hedge funds' bets on a rally declined for three weeks after reaching the highest since August 2011 on Oct. 9, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Speculators cut their net- long position by 7.5 percent in the week ended Oct. 30 to the lowest since Sept. 4, the data show.

While physical gold purchases in India, last year's biggest buyer, will be stronger this quarter compared with the previous three months, demand will probably decline for several weeks after the Diwali festival on Nov. 13, Edel Tully, an analyst at UBS AG in London, wrote in a Nov. 7 report.

Physical Demand

Higher prices may curb demand, Tully said in a report yesterday. While the metal slid for four consecutive weeks through Nov. 2, the longest losing streak in more than a year, this year's average of $1,663 is set to be a record. Bullion reached an all-time high in India in September and consumers there usually boost purchases before the wedding season and religious festivals later in the year.

ETP investors remained bullish, buying metal in 13 of the previous 14 weeks and added 193 tons in the three months through October, the longest monthly run since August 2011. The holdings now account for almost a year of mine production, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Barclays Plc.

In other commodities, nine of 18 traders and analysts surveyed expect copper to gain next week and seven were bearish. The metal for delivery in three months, the London Metal Exchange's benchmark contract, added 1 percent to $7,673.25 a ton this year.

Sugar Survey

Six of 14 people surveyed said raw sugar will rise next week and the same amount expected a decline. The commodity slid 19 percent to 18.84 cents a pound since the end of December on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange in New York.

Thirteen of 27 people surveyed anticipate higher corn prices next week and 11 were bearish, while 12 of 28 said soybeans will climb and the same amount predicted a drop. Corn rallied 15 percent to $7.435 a bushel in Chicago trading this year as soybeans rose 23 percent to $14.91 a bushel. Both crops reached records since August as the worst U.S. drought in a half century hurt crops.

The S&P GSCI gauge of raw materials fell to a three-month low on Nov. 5. Money managers reduced net-long positions across 18 U.S. commodity futures and options by 11 percent in the week ended Oct. 30 to the lowest since July, CFTC data show. The International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecast for next year to 3.6 percent from 3.9 percent on Oct. 9.