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NEW YORK - Gold futures fell the most in six weeks as crude oil prices dropped and a stronger dollar lowered the investment appeal for the metal as a hedge against inflation.

Gold for August delivery dropped $25.70 to end at $922.80 an ounce on the Comex division on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier in the day, August gold hit an intraday low of $922 an ounce. On Tuesday, gold futures fell $15.20 to end at $948.50 an ounce.

"We seem to be in the midst of a large-scale commodities sell-off," said Zachary Oxman, a senior trader at Wisdom Financial.

"Moves down in oil and grains and moves up in the dollar seem to be pushing gold extremely lower here," Oxman said. "The stock market is catching a solid bid, and it feels much like early in February/March when we saw this very thing."

Crude oil futures continued its downfall on Wednesday as concerns dropped that Hurricane Dolly will hit major oil infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. Crude oil for September delivery fell $2.12 to $126.30 a barrel on the Nymex.

Meanwhile, the Energy Department reported that U.S. crude inventories fell less than expected, down 1.6 million barrels to 295.3 million barrels in the week ending July 18.

Dollar strength also weighed on dollar-denominated gold. The dollar was mostly higher Wednesday, taking its cue from lower crude-oil futures.

The dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, gained 0.4 percent to 72.74.

Also on the Nymex, September silver fell 54 cents to $17.46 an ounce and October platinum dropped $47.40 to end at $1,760.80 an ounce.

September palladium dropped $19.35 to $392.15 an ounce and September copper fell 3 cents to $3.66 a pound.