PRECIOUS-Gold gains amid bargain hunting, all eyes on trade updates

By Ashitha Shivaprasad

April 24 (Reuters) - Gold prices gained on Thursday after falling more than 3% in the previous session, helped by a subdued dollar and bargain hunting, while market attention remained focused on any updates on U.S.-China trade relations.

Spot gold XAU= rose 1.4% to $3,333.90 an ounce, as of 1:46 p.m. EDT (1746 GMT). Bullion hit a record high of $3,500.05 on Tuesday due to concerns about the U.S. economy, but prices retreated on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump backed down from threats to fire the head of the Federal Reserve and appeared to soften his stance on China.

U.S. gold futures GCcv1 settled 1.7% higher at $3,348.60.

"The entire market is one story, tariffs, at the moment. China is playing the outraged party," which has the dollar down and gold up," said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader.

"The gold run to $3,500 was a little gluttonous and it needed a pullback to digest. Gold seems likely to trade sideways for the next few sessions but we are in a bull market so significant dips will certainly be bought."

In other markets, stocks drifted and a rebound in the dollar lost traction as investors try to grasp Trump's U-turns. A weaker dollar and a risk-off sentiment tend to make safe-haven bullion more appealing to investors. USD/ .N

China called for all "unilateral" U.S. tariffs to be cancelled, and clarified it has not held trade talks with Washington despite repeated comments from the U.S. government suggesting there had been engagement.

Meanwhile, data showed the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits rose marginally last week, suggesting the labor market remains resilient despite darkening clouds over the economy caused by tariffs on imported goods.

Among other metals, spot silver XAG= was down 0.1% at $33.51 an ounce, platinum XPT= was down 0.1% at $971.60 and palladium XPD= rose 0.4% to $947.93.