April 21 (Reuters) - Gold surged above $3,400 to a new record high on Monday, as the dollar weakened and uncertainty over the economic impact of U.S.-China trade tensions spurred demand for safe-haven bullion.
Spot gold rose 2.6% to $3,414.91 an ounce at 09:26 a.m. ET (1326 GMT). Prices hit a record high of $3,424.25 earlier in the session.
U.S. gold futures rose 2.9% to $3,424.50.
The dollar tumbled as investor confidence in the U.S. economy took another hit over President Donald Trump's comments about Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell. A weaker dollar makes bullion more appealing for other currency holders.
On the trade war front, China accused Washington of abusing tariffs and warned countries against striking a broader economic deal with the U.S. at its expense.
"As tariff tensions continue to move at a fevered pitch, we continue to see gold prices move to the upside as a safe haven response," said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.
"There'll be pullbacks and profit-taking at times, but we still believe in the underlying trend to be on sideways to higher trajectory."
Gold, which is considered a hedge against uncertainties and known to be a highly liquid asset, has scaled multiple record highs and gained more than $700 since the start of 2025. It surpassed $3,300 last Wednesday and its strong momentum pushed it up by another $100 in just a few days.
"These much bigger daily price moves in gold are one early clue this very mature bull market run is close to climaxing and that a near-term market top may be close at hand, from a time perspective, more so than a price perspective," said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals.
Among other metals, spot silver added 0.8% to $32.87 an ounce, platinum was down 0.6% at $961.63 and palladium slipped 3% to $933.02.
Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad and Daksh Grover in Bengaluru. Editing by Jane Merriman
