Gold prices recover some ground after easing from record highs

Gold prices edged up on Monday, recouping after a steep drop last week from record highs above $4,300 an ounce on U.S. President Donald Trump's comments that alleviated U.S.-China trade tensions and drove investors towards riskier assets.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was up 0.4% at $4,263.59 per ounce, as of 0203 GMT, having shed about 1.8% on Friday, the most since mid-May.

* Despite a sharp plunge on Friday, gold still recorded its best weekly performance since April, having earlier surged to a record high of $4,378.69 an ounce.

* U.S. gold futures for December delivery added 1.5% to $4,275.40 per ounce.

* Spot silver added 0.5% to $52.08 per ounce. Prices fell about 4.4% in the previous session, the biggest intra-session fall since early April, after hitting a record high of $54.47 an ounce.

* Non-yielding bullion has gained over 60% year-to-date, driven by geopolitical tensions, aggressive rate-cut bets, central bank buying, de-dollarisation and robust ETF inflows.

* Gold fell sharply on Friday after Trump said his proposed 100% tariff on goods from China would not be sustainable, adding that he would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and that he thought things would be fine with China.

* HSBC on Friday forecast that gold's bull rally would drive prices as high as $5,000 an ounce in 2026, supported by elevated risks and the impact of new entrants into the market.

* Soaring gold prices led Indian buyers to choose coins and bars over jewellery during the Dhanteras festival on Saturday, fuelled by hopes that the precious metal's glittering rally would continue, industry officials told Reuters.

* India's gold reserves crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time, according to the Reserve Bank of India's latest foreign exchange reserves data, buoyed by a global price rally even as the central bank's purchases slowed sharply this year.

* The Shanghai Futures Exchange said on Friday that it would raise daily price change limits for gold, silver futures to 14% from 12%, amid the recent rally in prices of the precious metals.

* Elsewhere, platinum fell 1.1% to $1,591.55 and palladium eased 0.5% to $1,467.16 per ounce.