PRECIOUS-Gold gains as markets grapple with US tariff uncertainty

By Rahul Paswan and Anushree Mukherjee

April 15 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose on Tuesday amid continued uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff plans and their impact on the global economy.

Spot gold XAU= was up 0.5% to $3,226.24 an ounce, as of 0651 GMT, not far from Monday's record high of $3,245.42.

U.S. gold futures GCcv1 rose 0.5% to $3,242.50.

"Gold continues to firm today ... on ongoing investors' demand for defensive assets to mitigate portfolio volatility as the U.S. seems to be setting the stage for more tariffs to come," IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said.

The U.S. is proceeding with probes into imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as part of a bid to impose tariffs on both sectors on the grounds that extensive reliance on foreign production of medicine and chips is a national security threat, Federal Register filings on Monday showed.

Trump said on Sunday he would be announcing the tariff rate on imported semiconductors over the next week, keeping market participants on edge.

With gold prices recently hitting a new high, the upward trend remains intact and as long as tariff uncertainties drag on, bullion may remain supported, Yeap said.

Meanwhile, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic said the uncertainty surrounding tariffs and other policies has put the economy into a "big pause," and suggested the Fed should stay on hold until there is more clarity.

Non-yielding gold acts as a hedge against global uncertainty and inflation, and also tends to thrive in a low-interest-rate environment.

Investments into Chinese physically-backed gold exchange-traded funds so far this month have exceeded those for all of the first quarter and overtaken inflows registered by U.S.-listed funds, World Gold Council data showed.

Spot silver XAG= was down 0.2% to $32.29 an ounce, platinum XPT= slipped 0.2% to $949.21 and palladium XPD= fell 1.4% to $943.