PRECIOUS-Gold, silver fall as CME margin hike stokes selling

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Gold down over 2% after Friday's more than 9% fall

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Silver down over 3% after Friday's 27% plunge

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Gold down about $900 from record highs on Thursday

(Updates paragraph 1, adds comment in paragaph 9, and prices for EMEA session close)

By Noel John

Feb 2 (Reuters) - Gold and silver prices pared some losses but remained ?under pressure on Monday, after increased CME margin requirements added to the selling pressure following last week's selloff sparked by Kevin ?Warsh's nomination as the incoming Federal Reserve chair. Spot gold was 2.3% lower at $4,754.51 per ounce ?by 1319 GMT, trimming losses from a near 10% fall earlier ?in the session. Bullion shed ?more than 9.8% on January 30, in its sharpest one-day drop since 1983.

Gold has lost about $900 since hitting an ?all-time-high of $5,594.82 on January 29, erasing most of ?this year's gains.

U.S. gold futures for April delivery were up 0.7% at $4,777.70/oz. Spot silver lost 3.8% to $81.41, recovering from a fall of 15% earlier on ?Monday. It has shed about 33% since ?notching an all-time-peak ?of $121.64 last week.

Prices have regained from lows earlier in the session as investors buy the dip and cover short positions, said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City ?Index and FOREX.com.

"But that doesn't mean that the downward trend that started at the back end of last week is over, so this could just be a temporary bounce before we see more volatility," Razaqzada added. The CME announced hikes in margins on its precious metal futures on January 30 and said the changes were set to take effect after market close ?on Monday.

"The ?increase in margin requirements makes holding speculative positions less appealing now and will also force a lot on the retail side of the market who do not ?have the extra liquidity to sell positions," said Zain Vawda, analyst at MarketPulse by OANDA. The dollar index edged higher last week after U.S. President Donald Trump named former Federal Reserve Governor Warsh as his Fed chair pick, making dollar-priced bullion more expensive for buyers overseas.

While investors expect Warsh to favour rate cuts, they anticipate he will tighten the Fed's balance sheet, a move typically supportive of the dollar.

Barclays said in ?a note on Monday it expects rate cuts, fiscal expansion, quantitative easing, fiat debasement and de-dollarisation to likely keep investment demand firm for gold. Spot platinum fell by 0.6% to $2,145.03 per ounce after hitting a record $2,918.80 on January 26, ?while palladium rose 1.2% to $1,719.25.

(Reporting by Noel John in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Smith and Shailesh Kuber)