Gold, heading for the first quarterly loss in more than three years, fell for a fourth day after the Federal Reserve failed to announce more stimulus measures.

The Fed said Dec. 13 that the U.S. is maintaining its expansion and refrained from taking new actions to bolster the economy. Before today, gold dropped 2.2 percent this quarter as the dollar rallied 2.6 percent against a six-currency basket.

“Quantitative easing isn’t in the cards any time soon,” Scott Gardner, the chief investment officer at Verdmont Capital SA in Panama, said in an e-mail. A stronger dollar has also been “negative news” for gold, he said.

Gold futures for February delivery fell 0.9 percent to $1,572.10 an ounce at 11:17 a.m. on the Comex in New York. Prices dropped 7.6 percent the previous three days. A loss this quarter would be first since the period ended Sept. 30, 2008.

Bullion is still up more than 70 percent since the end of 2008 as the Fed kept U.S. borrowing costs at a record low and made debt purchases to spur growth. Before today, the metal was up 12 percent in 2011, heading for an 11th straight annual gain.

Silver futures for March delivery slipped 0.3 percent to $28.845 an ounce on the Comex, heading for the third decline in four days.