* US silver futures hit 31-year high at $49.82/oz
* Spot gold rises to record of $1,517.71/oz
* Coming up: U.S. NAHB housing market index; 1400 GMT
(Writes through; adds details, comments; updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, April 25 (Reuters) - Spot silver surged more than
5 percent to just above $49 ounce on Monday, buoyed by a weak
dollar and strong physical demand in Asia that also propelled
gold to a record high for a seventh consecutive session.
U.S. silver futures <SIcv1> jumped 8.2 percent to $49.82 an
ounce in unusually large trading volume, just about 50 cents off
its all-time peak of $50.35 hit on Jan. 18, 1980.
"Everyone is buying," said a Hong Kong-based dealer. "There
is stop-loss buying, as well as a good buying interest from
China."
Spot silver hit a 31-year high of $49.25 an ounce,
and was trading at $48.82 by 0643 GMT. It was heading for its
biggest daily gain in five months.
Silver prices have climbed nearly 60 percent so far this
year, after jumping more than 80 percent in 2010, outpacing
gold's 7 percent rise and the 10-percent gain in the
19-commodity Reuters-Jefferies CRB index .
Silver's astounding run has attracted big and small
investors.
Holdings in the world's largest silver-backed
exchange-traded fund, iShares Silver Trust , have risen by
2.4 percent so far this year, compared to a 4 percent decline in
the holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's top gold ETF.
Buying interest in physical silver has also jumped in India,
where gold is traditionally favoured as a storage of wealth.
"The rally has been great as traders are buying silver like
mad," said an official at a private bank in India.
"We normally don't import silver on a regular basis, but we
imported about 10 tonnes from last month. Investors are joining
in the rally in India to catch on the price appreciation."
Spot gold hit a record high of $1,517.71 an ounce,
before easing to $1,515.65, up 0.8 percent.
U.S. gold futures <GCcv1> also rose to an all-time high, at
$1,518.6.
"It's the dollar play," said a dealer based in Singapore.
The dollar index languished around its three-year low
on Monday, with investors expecting further weakness as the
upcoming Federal Reserves' policy-setting meeting is likely to
announce the continuation of low interest rates.
The escalated violence in Syria and Yemen over the weekend
also helped lift gold, seen as a safe haven during time of
turmoil. []
Precious metals prices 0616 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1515.65 12.10 +0.80 6.78
Spot Silver 48.79 2.12 +4.54 58.10
Spot Platinum 1827.24 16.44 +0.91 3.38
Spot Palladium 768.78 3.30 +0.43 -3.84
TOCOM Gold 4015.00 33.00 +0.83 7.67 32996
TOCOM Platinum 4870.00 42.00 +0.87 3.71 8638
TOCOM Silver 129.00 6.10 +4.96 59.26 4600
TOCOM Palladium 2046.00 17.00 +0.84 -2.43 131
COMEX GOLD JUN1 1516.90 13.10 +0.87 6.72 18240
COMEX SILVER MAY1 48.81 2.75 +5.97 57.76 33489
Euro/Dollar 1.4572
Dollar/Yen 82.17
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
