Gold retreated on Monday, erasing the previous session's slim gains as fading concern over potential escalation in the trade stand-off between China and the United States sparked a recovery in cyclical assets such as stocks at bullion's expense.Gold rose half a per cent on Friday as simmering worries over trade friction and softer-than-expected US payrolls data for March knocked equities and the dollar lower. However, it has struggled to maintain those gains.Spot gold was down 0.3 per cent at $1,338.45 an ounce by 0950 GMT, while US gold futures for June delivery fell by $4.10 to $1,332.00."Holdings of physically backed gold products have been creeping up slowly, but not to the extent that you'd expect if a trade war was on the verge of breaking loose," said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke."This is reflected in the gold market overall at this point in time. In the end, everybody knows a trade war will only bring losers and no winners, and this is what will eventually prevail when they sit together and negotiate the issues." - Reuters