Gold prices rose to an all-time high of $2,844.56 (4.11 million won) per ounce, Tuesday (local time), buoyed by investor preference for safe-haven assets amid an escalating U.S.-China tariff dispute, market watchers said Wednesday.

In contrast, the increasingly risk-averse sentiment has lessened the investor appetite for equities and bitcoins, they said.

The global shift toward the precious metal is prompting many Koreans to increase holdings in commercial lender-mediated gold investments and gold bars.

Experts say the popularity of the hedge against geopolitical uncertainty and inflation will continue for the time being, due to the Donald Trump administration's penchant for unpredictability and U.S. inflation showing no immediate signs of tempering to below 2 percent.

According to market data, spot gold traded at $2,844.56, after hitting a record high of $2,845.14 earlier in the session.

U.S. gold futures traded at $2,875.80, up by 0.7 percent.

The all-time high came on the heels of China's tariffs on U.S. imports, an immediate response to the new U.S. duties, reminiscent of the trade feud between the world's top two economies under the first Trump administraton.

China said it would implement a 15 percent tariff on coal and liquefied natural gas, coupled with a 10 percent tariff on crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars imported from the U.S. effective Feb. 10.

This followed Trump's announcement of a 25 percent levy on Canadian and Mexican imports as well as a 10 percent tax on Chinese goods.

The measure against China came into force. However, Mexico and Canada avoided it after Trump agreed to a 30-day pause conditioned upon steps to appease the U.S. concerns over border security and drug trafficking.

Gold bars are on display at the Korea Gold Exchange, Feb. 4. Yonhap

To ride on higher demand for the precious metal, Korea's leading commercial lenders are rushing to strengthen their lineups of gold-related products.

The combined balance of gold banking at KB Kookmin, Shinhan and Woori came to 835.3 billion won as of end-January, up 268.5 billion won, or 47.4 percent, from the previous year.

The number of gold banking accounts came to 275,424, up 9.2 percent from 252,332 accounts.

Gold banking is whereby account holders can buy as little as 0.01 grams without storage concerns.

Also on the rise are gold bar sales.

KB Kookmin, Shinhan and Hana sold a combined 137.7 billion worth of gold bars, up 167 percent from 51.5 billion won a year earlier.

This amounted to 1,243 kilograms, up 92.9 percent from the previous year's 644 kilograms.

The uptrend of gold will continue throughout the first half, according to Hong Dong-hee, a senior investment strategist at Standard Chartered Bank Korea.

"Expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve easing and demand for safe-haven assets under the second Trump administration will keep the gold price elevated," he said.

Investors will find gold attractive when the Fed cuts its rates, in his view, since yields on bonds and savings accounts drop, offsetting the opportunity costs for holding the non-yielding precious metal.

They can increase holdings in dollar-priced gold, aided by the Fed's monetary easing and the resulting depreciation of the U.S. dollar.

"A weaker dollar can enable investors to buy more gold for cheaper, pushing up the price. This together with steady demand for greater hedging against Trump's tariff and trade uncertainties are factors for a sustained bullish run of gold," Hong said.

According to the Korea Gold Exchange, 3.75 grams of gold traded at 564,000 won, up 7 percent from early this year.

This was an over 12 percent increase from the end-November figure of 503,000 won.

Meanwhile, the benchmark KOSPI plunged to an intraday low of 2,437.61 points, Monday, all but reversing gains of the past month. The index closed at 2,509.27 points, Wednesday, up 1.11 percent from the previous session.

Bitcoin surged to an all-time high of over $106,490, mid-December but has since plummeted to $92,380 end-December. It continues to fluctuate between a range of $93,000 and $105,400.