* Silver hits highest since early 1980
* iShares Silver Trust holdings hit record
* Coming Up: U.S. ICSC chain stores yy Weekly; 1145 GMT
(Updates prices, add activity in physical market)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, April 5 (Reuters) - Silver jumped to its highest
since early 1980 on Tuesday on inflation concerns, a rise in ETF
holdings to another record and growing industrial demand,
helping gold defy pressure from a firming dollar against the
euro.
In addition to rising investment demand for silver as a
cheaper alternative to gold, an expected increase in physical
buying from China was likely to support the metal, which gained
22 percent in the first quarter -- its ninth consecutive
quarterly increase.
Silver , widely used in electronics manufacturing,
rose as high as $38.77 an ounce and was quoted at $38.68 an
ounce by 0624 GMT , up 26 cents.
"We do see a lot of demand for silver from China, so we
think silver used in solar panels have increased. We think China
will have a lot of demand for silver in the medium to long
term," said Natalie Robertson, commodities strategist at ANZ in
Melbourne.
"With China focusing more on renewable energy, especially
after the nuclear crisis in Japan, they will probably be
developing a lot more solar panels. Fundamentally, the silver
picture looks very strong as well."
IShares Silver Trust said its holdings rose to a
record at 11,162.45 tonnes by April 4 from 11,139.52 tonnes on
March 24. []
But some analysts remain wary of silver's extreme
volatility, which has led to some heart-stopping reversals in
recent years. When commodities sold off heavily in mid-March,
silver dropped nearly 5 percent in a single day, versus gold's 2
percent fall. For BUY OR SELL, click: []
Gold added $1.20 to $1,437.75 an ounce -- still below
a lifetime high around $1,447 an ounce struck last in March.
Trading was slow, with financial markets closed in Hong Kong and
mainland China.
"I think China has turned to silver jewellery since last
year because it's cheaper. I do see demand for silver from China
for jewellery and I also heard China is buying silver for
hedging purposes," said a physical dealer in Singapore.
"Gold is very quiet, although I do see light physical buying
from Thailand."
The physical gold market also saw some selling from
Indonesia, which was offset by purchases from jewellers in top
consumer India.
The high-demand wedding season is underway in India, where
jewellery is the most common gift during religious events and
weddings.
U.S. gold futures for June rose $5.7 an ounce to
$1,438.7 an ounce.
The euro hovered below a five-month high against the dollar
as investors assessed whether it can make fresh gains given that
market players have already positioned themselves for a series
of interest rate hikes in the euro zone during 2011.
The Nikkei slipped more than 1 percent on Tuesday with the
mood soured by Tokyo Electric Power's fall to an all-time low
while the market's post-quake rebound looks to have run its
course.
Oil prices hovered near their highest levels since 2008 on
Tuesday, with Brent near $121 a barrel, as unrest in the Middle
East and North Africa supported prices and on delays to
elections in Nigeria.
Precious metals prices 0624 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1437.75 1.20 +0.08 1.29
Spot Silver 38.68 0.26 +0.68 25.34
Spot Platinum 1783.50 4.05 +0.23 0.91
Spot Palladium 783.47 3.97 +0.51 -2.01
TOCOM Gold 3908.00 31.00 +0.80 4.80 41682
TOCOM Platinum 4872.00 60.00 +1.25 3.75 14580
TOCOM Silver 105.10 2.00 +1.94 29.75 2304
TOCOM Palladium 2133.00 26.00 +1.23 1.72 263
Euro/Dollar 1.4180
Dollar/Yen 84.33
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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