April 22 (Reuters) - The Trump administration's on again, off again approach to tariffs have whipsawed global markets, prompting investors to seek shelter in safe haven assets such as gold.
At the same time, the raging trade war with China and the possibility of a U.S. recession have spurred talks of overseas investors reducing their dollar and U.S. debt positions - also considered traditional hedges against market turmoil.
Here's a look at major economies/central banks and their holdings of gold and Treasuries in recent months:
GOLD
Sustained demand from central banks has created a reliable floor under gold prices, supporting bullion's historic rally this year.
Spot gold prices surged as high as $3,500.05 per ounce on Tuesday, surpassing the $3,500/oz milestone for the first time.
"With all the geopolitical tensions, central banks do want to diversify away from the dollar and have something that won't be sanctioned ... gold is one of those asset classes that could fit the bill," Marex analyst Edward Meir said.
TREASURIES
The two top owners of U.S. Treasuries - Japan and China - increased their U.S. debt holdings in February, when they braced for U.S. President Donald Trump's erratic trade policies.
Foreign holdings of U.S. Treasuries rose 3.4% to $8.817 trillion in February, data from the Treasury Department showed.
"When you have an excess amount of money, like all these entities do, you have to do something with that money. And what they would do was buy debt, buy Treasury," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments.
"But when you have a trade war going on, the dynamic changes. I can almost guarantee you that data can be much different."
Reporting by Anjana Anil and Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Anmol Choubey and Ishaan Arora; editing by Arpan Varghese and Maju Samuel
