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COMEX silver tumbles at midday to 3-1/2-month lows

NEW YORK: COMEX silver tumbled to 3-1/2-month lows at midday, pressured by apparent fund long liquidation and trade selling as the precious metals remained under pressure after Monday's losses, traders said.

At 1300 EDT, May silver was off 12.0 cents at $5.36 an ounce, having traded down to $5.35, its lowest since March 7. The high of $5.495 was set early.

Traders said sell stops were triggered when the May contract broke below Monday's low of $5.45, with trade selling later emerging to pressure prices further.

One floor source pegged next support for the May contract at $5.28. The precious metals received no support today from the grain and energy markets, which slumped after strong rallies last week. The KR-CRB index of commodity futures fell 2.0 to 257.28.

Silver's open interest Monday rose 1,834 lots to 103,047.-Reuter