By Sarah Turner
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures continued to climb through the Asian trading session on Monday, with the contract up $52.00 at $1,703.80 an ounce. It hit a high of $1,704.90 an ounce in the session, a fresh record. Investors were buying gold as they retreated from riskier assets in the wake of a historic downgrade of U.S. government debt late Friday. Asian equity markets were firmly lower and oil futures traded below $74 a barrel.
