Gold falls to 3-wk low as crisis boosts dollar

LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters): Gold fell to a three-week low Monday, after a rise in the dollar prompted enough selling to push the bullion price through a key level of support, in spite of the persistent worry about the lack of a solution to the euro zone debt crisis. Last week's summit of European Union leaders yielded a historic agreement on beefing up fiscal discipline in the 27-member bloc, but fell short of market expectations for a more drastic solution to the crisis. This lack of confidence in Europe pushed investors into the relative safety of the U.S. dollar, rather than gold, which has fallen by about 5 percent in the last week alone. A stronger dollar often encourages non-U.S. holders of gold to sell the metal to lock in a higher profit in their own currencies.