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Gold hit a record high of $4,059.05 on Wednesday

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Silver hovers below record high of $51.22/oz hit on

Thursday

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Platinum, palladium headed for weekly gains

(Updates with U.S. mid-trading session)

By Anushree Mukherjee and Anmol Choubey

Oct 10 (Reuters) - Gold popped back up above the

$4,000-an-ounce level on Friday, set for an eighth straight

weekly gain, after U.S. President Donald Trump's warning of

possible fresh tariffs on China accelerated a flight to

safe-haven assets.

Spot gold was up 0.8% at $4,007.39 per ounce as of

11:18 am ET (1518 GMT). The metal has gained 3.2% so far this

week.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 1.3% to

$4,024.40.

Non-yielding bullion, which hit a record high of $4,059.05

on Wednesday, is traditionally considered a hedge during times

of broader uncertainty.

Geopolitical risks, alongside strong central bank

gold-buying, exchange-traded funds inflows, U.S. rate cut

expectations and economic uncertainties stemming from tariffs,

have all contributed to gold's rally.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday there is no

reason to meet with China's President Xi Jinping in two weeks in

South Korea as planned. The U.S. is calculating a massive

increase in tariffs on Chinese imports, he said in a Truth

Social post.

Trump's post has seen stocks collapse a percent in minutes

and gold surging back above $4,000, said Tai Wong, an

independent metals trader. "Heating up the trade war again will

tank the dollar and be good for safe-havens."

Markets are also closely monitoring the risks related to the

potential collapse of the French government and the ongoing

government shutdown in the United States.

Besides, investors are anticipating the U.S. Federal Reserve

to cut interest rates by 25 basis points each in October and

December.

"On balance, there is a risk of a short-term pullback in

prices given how quickly gold prices have risen in recent weeks.

But over the next couple years, gold prices are likely to grind

higher," Hamad Hussain, climate and commodities economist at

Capital Economics, said.

Adding to gold's rally, the U.S. dollar fell 0.6%,

making greenback-priced bullion cheaper for overseas buyers.

Silver is also benefiting from the same factors driving

gold's rally, alongside concerns about supply deficit and rising

demand for the metal.

Silver rose 2.2% to $50.21 per ounce, a day after

touching a record high of $51.22. It has gained 70% so far this

year.

Silver futures on Comex for December 2025 were

trading at $48.03.

"Silver's backwardation is a loud signal - physical demand

is crushing paper supply... If backwardation holds and physical

demand keeps rising, silver breaking and sustaining above $50 is

very realistic," said Alex Ebkarian, COO at Allegiance Gold.

Backwardation is when a commodity's spot price is higher

than its futures price.

Among other metals, platinum was up 0.3% at $1,622.61

and palladium gained 2.8% to $1,445.00. Both were headed

for weekly gains.