PRECIOUS-Gold climbs as tariff and geopolitical risks spur safe-haven demand

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Iran and US to hold new round of talks on Thursday

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Gold may soften into spring but tariffs could limit downturn, BofA says

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Platinum hits highest level since January 29

(Updates for US morning session)

By Anmol Choubey

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Gold gained on Wednesday ?as investors moved into safe havens on concerns that ?tariffs could stoke inflation, while ongoing tensions between Iran the United States also kept bids for safety intact.

Spot gold rose ?0.5% to $5,172.17 per ounce, by 09:37 a.m. ET (1437 GMT). U.S. gold futures for ?April delivery were up 0.3% at $5,191.

"There's an inflationary impact from tariffs ?and high oil prices, especially ?if an attack is imminent, and I think there's also some hedging by investors, who may be turning ?to gold," said Bart Melek, global head of ?commodity strategy at TD Securities.

The U.S. began collecting a temporary 10% global import tariff on Tuesday, but a White House official said the Trump administration ?was trying to raise it to ?15%.

President Donald ?Trump, in his State of the Union speech, said "almost all" countries and corporations want to maintain their existing tariff and investment agreements with Washington.

Trump also laid out ?his case for a possible attack on Iran saying he would not allow ?the world's biggest sponsor of terrorism to have a nuclear weapon. Meanwhile, Iran and the U.S. were set to hold a third round of nuclear talks on Thursday in Geneva.

Gold is widely seen as a safe-haven asset during times of uncertainty. Despite the non-yielding ?asset gaining ?in a low interest rate environment, it is also seen as ?a hedge against inflation.

Prices scaled a record high of $5,594.82 on January 29 and were up ?19.7% so far this year.

"Investors have slowed the pace at which they increase their exposure to gold. Hence, we factor in a period of potentially weaker gold prices into spring, although the resurgent tariff uncertainty may make the period of consolidation relatively short-lived," Bank of America said in a note, adding that it expects prices to hit $6,000/oz over the next 12 months.

Spot silver climbed 2.8% ?to $89.80 per ounce, a three-week high. On January 29, silver scaled an all-time peak of $121.64.

BofA noted that the white metal could rise again above $100/oz this year.

Spot platinum rose 6% ?to $2,297.62 per ounce, its highest point since ?January 29, while palladium added 2.8% to $1,816.81. (Reporting by Anmol Choubey ?in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)