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Bullion hit record high of $2,431.29/ounce on Friday

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US retail sales beat expectations in March

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Industrial and investment demand supporting silver -

Heraeus

(Adds analyst comment, graphic, updates prices)

By Ashitha Shivaprasad

April 15 (Reuters) - Gold prices climbed on Monday due

to safe-haven demand spurred by Middle East tensions, even as

the dollar and Treasury yields gained following a

higher-than-expected uptick in U.S. retail sales in March,

feeding apprehensions that the Federal Reserve could delay

cutting interest rates this year.

Spot gold rose 0.9% to $2,365.09 per ounce as of 2:00

p.m. ET (1800 GMT), after hitting a record high of $2,431.29 on

Friday in anticipation of Iran's retaliatory attack against

Israel.

U.S. gold futures settled 0.4% higher at $2,383.

This very much seems like a geopolitically driven price

move, which might be related to statements from the Israeli

defense forces that something is going to materialize here, said

Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.

Iran launched explosive drones and missiles late on Saturday

in the first attack on Israel by another country in over three

decades, stoking fears of a broader regional conflict.

The dollar rose 0.2% and 10-year Treasury yields hit a

five-month high after data showed U.S. retail sales increased

more than expected in March, further evidence that the economy

had ended the first quarter on solid ground.

The market now sees fewer than two 25-basis-point cuts by

the year-end, after previously expecting three.

However, "in the near-term, gold prices could fall towards

$2,200 as the geopolitical premiums get washed out," said Daniel

Pavilonis, senior market strategist at RJO Futures.

Central bank buying has also lent support to bullion.

"It is unlikely that there will be a wholesale reversal to

net selling in the near term despite the record gold price, as

central bank buying tends to be strategic and insensitive to the

price," analysts at Heraeus said in a note.

Meanwhile, spot silver rose 3% to $28.72 after

hitting a nearly three-year high in the previous session.

"Both industrial demand - mainly from solar PV manufacturing

- and institutional investing appear to be supporting" silver,

Heraeus analysts said.

Platinum fell 0.6% to $968.00 and palladium

lost 2% to $1,028.34.