NEW YORK - May 18, 2011 - Billionaire financier George Soros, who called gold "the ultimate bubble," dumped almost his entire $800 million (Dh2.9 billion) stake in bullion in the first quarter, well before a commodities slump blamed partly on reports he was liquidating his holdings.

Famed gold bull John Paulson held his ground, but Soros was joined in the retreat by several other big names, including Eric Mindich and Paul Touradji, according to 13-F filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that provide the best insight into where hedge funds are placing their bets.

Gold prices barely reacted to the news, with spot gold up 0.3% at $1,494.29 an ounce by 0327 GMT. Rising inflation worries and a debt crisis in the eurozone should help prevent any selloff in the precious metal, analysts said.

Soros, who has been bullish on gold for the past several years, cut his holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust to just $6.9 million by the end of the first quarter, compared with $655 million in December, becoming the most high-profile investor to turn his back on one of the market's best-performing assets.

He also liquidated a 5 million share stake in the iShares Gold Trust, the filings showed. His total holdings in gold-backed ETFs was $774 million as of December.

Gold rose for a tenth consecutive quarter in the three months to March, hitting record highs above $1,400 an ounce, buoyed by political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa and lingering worries about indebted European countries.