Gold eased off a near two-year high, while silver breached the $21 level for the first time since July 2014 in highly volatile trade on Monday, prompted by a burst of short-covering in China. Spot gold rose about 1% at one point to touch a session best of $1 357.60 per ounce. This was close to the $1 358.20 level reached on June 24, the highest since March 2014, when global markets went into a tailspin in the wake of Britain’s vote to exit the European Union. Spot gold was up 0.3% at $1 346.60 an ounce as of 0418 GMT. US gold was up 0.7% at $1 348.50. Silver soared 7% at one point to $21.107, the highest since July 2014, before retreating below $20.25 by 0415 GMT.