WASHINGTON, Apr. 21 (Reuters) - Gold surged above $3,400 to a record high on Monday, as the dollar weakened and uncertainty over the economic impact of U.S.-China trade tensions spurred demand for safe-haven bullion.

Spot gold rose 2.7% to $3,417.62 an ounce at 1:46 p.m. ET (1746 GMT). Prices hit a record high of $3,430.18 earlier in the session.

U.S. gold futures settled 2.9% higher at $3,425.30.

The dollar tumbled to its lowest level in three years as investor confidence in the U.S. economy took another hit over President Donald Trump's comments about Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell. A weaker dollar makes bullion more appealing for other currency holders.

On the trade war front, China accused Washington of abusing tariffs and warned countries against striking a broader economic deal with the U.S. at its expense.

"As tariff tensions continue to move at a fevered pitch, we continue to see gold prices move to the upside as a safe haven response," said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.

"There'll be pullbacks and profit-taking at times, but we still believe in the underlying trend to be on sideways to higher trajectory."

Gold, which is considered a hedge against economic uncertainties and known to be a highly liquid asset, has hit multiple record highs and gained more than $700 since the start of 2025. It surpassed $3,300 last Wednesday and its strong momentum pushed it up by another $100 in just a few days.

"These much bigger daily price moves in gold are one early clue this very mature bull market run is close to climaxing and that a near-term market top may be close at hand, from a time perspective, more so than a price perspective," said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals.

Among other metals, spot silver was steady at $32.60 an ounce, platinum was down 0.6% at $961.61 and palladium slipped 3% to $934.25.